Living Legacy
by mrs.aniskywalker
Summary: In one universe, Harry did not run away from Grimmauld Place after hearing the conversation at St. Mungo's. In another he did, and in doing so set of a chain of events that would touch lives across the country, and change the world in ways he could have never dreamed. AU
1. Chapter 1 : When Harry met Lillie

So, this is my first real try at a fanfiction. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed imagining and writing it! I don't own Harry Potter in any way shape or form, (If I did there would be a lot less dying and a lot more stuff like this… and probably strange and inexplicable musical numbers…but not in this fanfiction, anyhow…Enjoy! Just so everyone's clear on where this story starts off, this is just after Harry has come back from St. Mungo's and believes he's being possessed by Voldemort, and is about to run away from the Wizarding World, when Phineas Nigellus shows up with a message from Dumbledore…

Also words in** bold **_**Italics **_signify inner monologues… or whatever.

Gilding the Lillie 1: Living Legacy

Chapter One:

"…Have you never paused, while feeling hard-done-by, to note that following Dumbledore's orders has never yet led you into harm? No. No, like all young people, you are quite sure that you alone feel and think, you alone recognize danger, you alone are the only one clever enough to realize what the Dark Lord may be planning…"

"He is planning something to do with me then?" said Harry swiftly. "Did I say that?" said Phineas Nigellus. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than to listen to adolescent agonizing, good day to you…" And he strolled into his frame and out of sight.

"Fine! Go then!" Harry bellowed at the empty frame. "And tell Dumbledore thanks for nothing!" Harry glared at the empty portrait for a moment, silently fuming. "_Stay where you are_". He was so tired of people treating him like he couldn't handle anything, hadn't he proven himself more capable of fighting Voldemort than wizards twice his age? Hadn't all his escapes and all he'd had to endure over the past four years meant anything?

Well, he'd had enough. If no one was going to offer him any _real_ help, he'd go ahead with his plan. He'd leave the Wizarding World far behind him. He'd never give Voldemort another chance to use him as a weapon again. He grabbed his trunk, and quietly opened his door…

He snuck silently into the hallway, and down the stairs. Careful not to wake Mrs. Black's portrait, careful not to make any sound that might alert the others to his presence. Finally, he reached the front door, stealthily opened it, pulled his trunk outside, and shut the door to Grimmauld Place tight. He was out.

He dragged his trunk past the unkempt grass in the middle of the littered square, past the broken-down houses, and out into the main road that lead into the neighborhood. After ten minutes of walking up and down countless side streets without an Order member chasing him down, Harry concluded he'd done a fine job of hiding his trail, and getting himself lost. He had absolutely no ideas where he was.

All his previous trips to London had included an adult to guide him around, now, on his own; he was forced to realize his plan to run away didn't have much planning behind it. "Ok…Think Potter…" He couldn't use the Knight Bus to get back to Little Whinging, that much was certain. And there was no way on earth he was going to _walk_ there. (even if he had known the way.) "Well… there's always the Tube…"

. By now, it was beginning to get dark, and despite the streets in this area being relatively empty, Harry had no desire to wander around London alone at night. After another ten minutes trying to locate and _finally_ finding a miserable little Underground station, he was starting to have second thoughts. He was cold, he was hungry, and he was really, really tired…As he walked down the stairs to the station, he struggled to keep his eyes open. Maybe once he was on the train he could take a quick cat na- _No! _

No naps. No sleep, not until he was sure he was away from anyone who could be hurt if he- -Harry squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, trying to clear away the sleep and the dark thoughts. While this helped him to stave off sleep, his closed eyes prevented him from seeing that a person was now walking in front of him, at least they _had_ been walking, until Harry walked straight into them, bowling them both over.

"OW! Watch where you're going!" Harry, eyes open now, began apologizing profusely, trying to gather up the scattered belongings he'd knocked out his trunk and the girl's (it was a girl) rucksack. He picked up a pencil box, and looked up at her, "I'm really so so-"He blinked, and _his own eyes_ blinked back. The same almond shape, the same bright green color. He blinked again, before breathing out a quiet, wondering "…Sorry…"

He took in the face the eyes (looking at him with a fierce expression that lay between annoyed and amused) belonged to. It was a young face, the girl was probably no older then he was. She had an oval shaped face, a straight nose with a smattering of freckles on the bridge, and a cupid's bow mouth. Her dark red hair was pulled up into a pony tail that poked out the back of her baseball hat. She was thin, but not as thin as some of the older girls Harry had seen at Hogwarts, (the ones that spent all their time giggling behind _GlamourWitch_ Magazine). He could tell that if she stood up, she'd probably come up just a bit shorter than him.

"What are you staring at?" Her question broke Harry out of his thoughts. "Oh, uh… sorry, i-it's just… your eyes." She gave him a look that clearly said she thought this was the wrong time for cheesy pickup lines. Harry back tracked quickly. "I-I mean-your eyes look…just like mine…just like." She narrowed her "just like" eyes, and leaned closer to Harry to get a better look at his. "It's true…" she said, in an awed voice. "Huh…" Her face broke into a playful smile. "Weird." "Yeah." Harry said, smiling back, relived she no longer looked annoyed at him. "Weird."

They sat on the station floor, continuing to look at each other bemusedly. Harry broke the moment of awkward silence by finally handing the girl her pencil box. "Um… this is yours, right?" "Oh right." She said quickly, blushing. "Thanks." They stood up, Harry reaching out a hand to help her to her feet. "Right…" They both looked around, trying to see if a train was coming. Seeing no sign of one, they sat down next to each other on the bench, looking anywhere but at each other.

After two minutes of leg swinging and foot tapping in total silence, the girl finally turned to Harry and asked "So… you running away?" If Harry had had a drink, he would have choked on it. "I-I-uh…w-what makes you say that?" She grinned like someone who'd just been told they were finally allowed to spill an extremely juicy secret. She began counting down on her fingers."Well, you're all alone on the day before Christmas Eve, you're lugging around a ridiculously large trunk no one would lug around unless they _had_ to, and you've got this nervous, panicky sort of look like you don't want to be seen."

Harry blinked, and she grinned even wider. "Hah! I knew it." Her smug look annoyed Harry, and he returned the grin with his best imitation of Hermione's "No Ron, I will not do your homework" glare. "Well, what if I am? What's it to you? Anyway you're one to talk, you're alone too, and your rucksacks just as ridiculously large as my trunk!" "Sheesh!" she said, placing her fists on her hips, her grin not fading a bit. "Don't be such grouch! If you _are_ running away, and I think we both know the answer to that, it's your business. I won't say a word, not one single word. Not that there's exactly anyone to tell." She said, gesturing to station, empty except for them.

Harry relaxed his glare "Well… alright, I'm sorry I snapped at you... It's just…" "I know. If you've got a reason to run away, it's not something you generally want to talk about." She gave him a knowing smile. Too knowing. "You're running away too?" She nodded, and then seemed to think about it. "Well…It's more like…running _to_." She gave Harry a calculating look, as if trying to figure out if she could trust him with something. She seemed to decide she could. "See, I'm trying to find-"She was cut off as the train rumbled into the station. She turned to look at it, and then turned back to Harry. "Where are you headed?" she shouted over the rush of the wind in the tunnel. "Tottenham Court Road!" He shouted back.

She looked quickly back to the train, which was beginning to slow down. She looked at Harry again, hard. It was kind of unnerving, and was beginning to make Harry uncomfortable, when her calculating expression fell, and suddenly she looked sort of sad, and lost. "C-Can I come with you?" She said, looking down at her hands. "I'll leave you alone whenever you say to but… well… it's not that I'm scared of the dark or anything." She added quickly, her original fierceness rearing up, before falling back into embarrassment again "But…tomorrow's Christmas Eve... and I-I just don't want to spend it…alone." She finished lamely.

Harry mind whirled. All he'd wanted to do was sneak away to the Dursleys with ought being noticed by anybody. And now a perfect stranger was asking to come along and spend Christmas with him. He looked back at the train, it wasn't going to stay there forever, and who knew when another one would pull up? He looked back at the girl, debating with himself. _**She's all alone… So? You don't even know her! But she's scared, she acts tough but-but nothing! She'll be really scared if you fall asleep on the train and turn into a dirty great snake! **_Harry gulped. This was all to true…but _**but if I have someone to talk to, it'll be easier to stay awake…and it is almost Christmas Eve…and I don't want to be alone either.**_

Harry took a deep breath, and nodded. She gave him her biggest grin so far. "Thanks." "Ah, no problem." Harry said, suddenly a little embarrassed himself. Once again he helped her to her feet as they stood up and boarded the train. "After all, It's the least I could do after smashing right into you and knocking you to the ground." He said grinning, and offered his hand. "I'm Harry by the way. Harry Potter" He felt no anxiety at telling her his real name, the car was empty except for them, and as a Muggle, she wouldn't know who he was anyway. She took his hand and shook it vigorously. "Lillian, Lillian Blake." She gripped his hand tighter, and pulled him a little closer with a smile. "But my _friends, _call me Lillie."

Meanwhile, back at Number 12 Grimmauld Place….

Ron knocked quietly on his and Harry's bedroom door, waited a moment for an answer, and then slowly opened it. "Harry? Mum say's dinner's ready, but she'll save you something if you-want-to…" He stopped, realizing the room was empty. But wait, _how_ could it be empty? Harry wasn't downstairs, and if he wasn't here and he wasn't downstairs… Ron's eyes widened, and he looked rapidly around the room. Harry's trunk was missing as well.

"Oh no…" He turned quickly and run out the door onto the landing. "Mum! Mum!" He called out, voice shaking. Mrs. Black began to scream as well, and Mrs. Weasley rushed out of the kitchen. "Ron! What's the matter with you? Haven't I told you-" "Mum! Harry's gone!" Mrs. Weasley blinked, stopping short, (Mrs. Black continued her tirade). "Gone…what do you mean Ron? Gone how?"

"Gone! He's not in his room! He's not in the house, _period_!" By now Sirius and the Twins were attempting to pull the curtain back over Mrs. Black's portrait, and Ginny had come in to see what all the commotion was about. "Who's not in the house period?" Sirius grunted, straining at the curtain. "_Traitors! Trespassers! Descendants of MudMen!_" **"HARRY!" **Ron practically screamed.

Sirius let go of his end of the curtain, causing the twins to fall back in a heap from the lack of tension. Everyone was now staring at Ron. "What do you mean Harry's out of the house?" Sirius called up over his mother, his eyes wide with alarm. Ron was near panicking by now; every second spent explaining was time lost that they could be looking for Harry. He tried to explain as quickly and thoroughly as he could.

".Gone! He's not in his room, and he's not downstairs because we would have seen him, and as I can't think of any conceivable reason he'd be in the attic, .GONE! AND WE'VE GOT TO GO LOOK FOR HIM!" The group below stared up at him for a moment more, before breaking into total panic. Before anyone could stop him, Sirius had rushed toward the door, and flung it open. Before he could run out, Fred and George caught hold of him, and started to drag him back, his anguished cries echoing out into the night. "Harry! HARRY! **HARRY!**"


	2. Chapter 2 : Whys and Wheres

Hey! First, I'd just like to thank everybody who was so nice in reading and reviewing my story! You all get cookies! Secondly, I'd like to say I do not own Harry Potter in any conceivable way shape or form. Now, on to the story!

Ron was beginning to feel sick, and not just with worry. Soon after his brothers had stopped Sirius from going after Harry, Mrs. Weasley had contacted Dumbledore about his disappearance. Within an hour, almost all of the Order of the Phoenix had gathered at 12 Grimmauld Place. Ron had had to explain everything all over again, and again, and _again_. Everyone seemed to have to hear the words "Harry is gone" for themselves, before it really sank in.

"I just don't understand!" Tonks exclaimed as they sat down at the kitchen table."Why would he run away? He knows how dangerous it is out there! Especially after what happened in July!" "Well, we all know Potter has never cared to give _any_ sort of consideration to what danger may await him. No doubt he's concocted some foolish scheme to draw Voldemort out into the open using himself as bait." The Order all turned to glare at Snape, except for Dumbledore, who sat at the head of the table, deep in thought.

"Who cares _why _!" Sirius interjected , turning to look at Lupin. "We should be out _finding_ him, not wondering "_why"_. He's had over two _hours _to get lost, or hurt, or-or how knows what!" He looked down the table to Dumbledore. "Professor, you of all people should know how important it is we send out a search party _now_!"

"And how do you propose to track him Black?" Snape asked with a sneer, " I suppose you'd act as blood hound, and sniff out the trail? Do you not_ think_ that Professor Dumbledore did not send out seeking spells the moment he heard Potter had fled? The boy is not using _magic. He is undetectable. _Either he has been separated from his wand, which at this early stage seems unlikely, or he is purposely refraining from using it."

"Why would Potter not use his wand?" Kingsley asked. "It sounds like your implying that he-" "Does not _want _to be found." The Order turned back to look at Dumbledore, these were the first words he'd spoken since he'd asked Ron to tell his story. "Doesn't wa-that's ridiculous!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "Why would he not _want_ to be found?" "For precisely the same reason he ran away." Dumbledore said, standing up from the table to pace the room.

"Aye, Potter's smart, he knows now that if the Ministry can track him through his magic, we could do the same." Growled Moody. "If he were really that smart, he would realize that he has just exposed himself to be found by any Death Eater wandering the streets!" Snape's comment produced a wave of arguing up and down the table. Dumbledore continued to pace in silence, seemingly unaffected by the commotion around him.

Ron sat outside with his brothers and Ginny, Extendable Ears tucked under the door. Ron's brain was whirling. Why would Harry run away? Why would he not want to be found? It didn't make sense. He fiddled with his Ear, trying to get it further in, without it being seen. What could have possibly prompted Harry to-Ron looked down suddenly at the Ears. Of Course! The hospital! What Moody had said about Voldemort controlling Harry! Ron felt like smacking himself on the head, (if Hermione was there, she probably would have done it herself for him being so _clueless_!) Worrying about Harry had put what they'd heard clear out of his head.

Harry had obviously been upset, who _wouldn't_ be if they'd just found out You-Know-Who was poking around in their heads, making them do stuff. That stupid i_diot_ had probably decided everybody would be safer if he skipped out! Now Ron felt like smacking _Harry_. But his anger was quickly pushed aside again by worry. Harry was completely alone out there, and if You-Know-Who wascontrolling him, it would be easy as anything for the Death Eaters to _find_ him! Just like Snape said!

Ron started pounding on the door. Ginny and the Twins jumped on him immediately, pinning him down. "Are you crazy?" Ginny hissed. "Yeah Ron! Do you want Mum to destroy the little merchandize we've managed to save?" "G'a'me!" Came Ron's muffled reply. "What?" His siblings asked. "Ge' ah' me!" Fred looked at George and shrugged. George looked at Ginny, who shrugged as well. "Maybe we should get off him." Fred suggested. They relaxed their dog pile enough for Ron to raise his face off the carpet. "Now little brother, what was that you said?" Ron took a deep gasping breath of air before exclaiming."I _said_, Get _Off _Me! I _know_ why Harry left! I've gotta tell Dumbledore!"

The rest of the Weasleys quickly jumped off and began pounding along with Ron. "Professor Dumbledore! Professor!" "Mum! Mum open the door!" "Shut up in there for a minute would ya?" The arguing quieted down almost immediately, and the Weasleys barely avoided toppling over in a heap ;as a _livid _Mrs. Weasley swung open the door. She was too upset to notice Fred and George quickly shoving the Extendable Ears into their back pockets.

"What are you four doing here?" she hissed through clenched teeth. "I told you to go to bed! You're interrupting important-" "Mum!" They all cut in. "Ron knows why Harry left!" Mrs. Weasley looked down at Ron, who gulped when he realized the rest of the room was looking at him as well. "Well, Mr. Weasley?" Barked Moody. "Out with it!" Ron gulped again, and quickly told him how they had happened to…_overhear_ the adults at St Mungos.

"…So I think he ran away because he thought that if You-Know-Who's controlling him, that'd _we'd_ be safer if he wasn't around us!" Dumbledore nodded. "That is as I suspected. Which is why I sent Phineas Nigellus with a message for Harry to stay where he was. Obviously, he has not heeded it very well."

"Obviously." Scoffed Snape. Sirius was staring at Dumbledore, he seemed to be having difficulty getting his words out. "You knew? You knew why he ran away? THEN WHAT ON EARTH HAVE WE BEEN WASTING OUR TIME HERE FOR?" "Sirius." Said Dumbledore calmly, despite the fact Sirius was looking ready to pounce on him, kept back only by Lupin's hand on his sleeve.

"I assure you, we have _not_ been wasting our time. If the entire Order of the Phoenix had suddenly begun wandering up and down London at the same time, we would have alerted the Death Eaters to the knowledge that something is _wrong_. I have already sent several of our lesser known members to search the surrounding areas. We are here to figure out_ where_ Harry might be heading, as well as deciding on a greater plan of action that does n_ot_ put the Order at risk from Voldemort (he continued over the general shutter) _or _the Ministry. I would not wish them to learn of this development until absolutely necessary. If all goes well, we may be able to find Harry before the Christmas holiday is over, and return him safely to Hogwarts before Dolores Umbridge realizes his absence is anything more than a Christmas visit with his friends."

Dumbledore looked Sirius straight in the eyes, and Sirius was struck by how tired and sad Dumbledore looked. "Sirius, I _promise_ you, I will do _everything_ I can to get Harry back." Sirius still looked angry, but he nodded, and sat back down. Dumbledore then addressed the rest of the table.

"Now, let us think, where would Harry Potter go, if he did not want to be found by Wizards, friend and foe alike?" The table became a buzz of theories and ideas. Mrs. Weasley took this opportunity to hustle her reluctant children back up to bed. Sirius sat brooding in silence, not offering any thoughts as to where his godson was heading. He was still more concerned over where he was _now_, and _how_ he was. He understood Dumbledore's argument, but… He leaned over to Lupin. "I need some air; I'm going to check on Buckbeak." Lupin nodded, and then turned back to Tonks, who was detailing all the places _she_ had run away to as a child whenever she'd had a row with her parents.

Sirius walked across the room, avoiding looking at anyone. He ducked out the door, left open by Mrs. Weasley, and closed it quietly behind him. He began to walk up the stairs, when suddenly' he stopped. His eyes turned to the front door. He looked at it a long minute, then a smirking grin began to grow on his face. "Act as blood hound huh?" He whispered. "Snivellus, for the first time in your life, I'm glad you opened your mouth."

When Lupin exited the kitchen five minutes later to bring Sirius back to the meeting, he found the front door ajar, cold winter air sweeping snow into the hall. Puzzled, he stepped over to close it- and saw a trail of large paw prints set in the snow, leading out into the dark. "Oh no…" He rushed back into the kitchen, and soon the Order was tramping out into the hall to see for themselves. Snape followed the snowy trail with his dark eyes. "Brilliant." He hissed sarcastically, "Now we have _two_ simpletons to look for."

Unbeknownst to the Order, _Kreacher_, absent these past few days, had returned; and had _also_ eavesdropped on the conversation, via a pipe in the attic. The pipe lead straight down into the kitchen, and he had heard every word. He was hugging his thin elderly body with glee. How proud his new masters, the Mistresses Black would be when he brought them this news! _They _were proper witches, _they _would appreciate what Kreacher had done for them and the Noble House of Black. If all went well, he might finally be able to rid his Mistress's house of that blood traitor and his friends once and for all!


	3. Chapter 3 : Christmas Eve Suprises

Hey! Me again! Well, let's get the obligatory stuff out of the way, I do not own Harry Potter in any way imaginable. I'm really glad so many people have noticed my story! Thanks for the reviews! Also, every now and again we'll be playing "Catch that Quote. "In which one of the characters will say something, and you have to catch what book or movie it's from! Happy Hunting!

Harry and Lillie stood next to each other in the crowded High Street Kensington Station, trying to read a map, while be jostled by last minute commuters and shoppers trying to get home on time for Christmas Eve. Lillie pointed to the sticker on the map that marked their spot on the Underground.

"Ok, we're here, so if you're trying to get to-where was it again?" "Little Whinging" Harry replied, scooting closer the sign to let a hassled looking woman with three small, crying children pass. "Right. Well, I think that you'd probably have to take the District line…" she traced the green line with her finger, "And ride it all the way down to Wimbleton, and it looks like you can take the Railway from there."

Harry was impressed. "You're really good at this, I always get lost." "Yeah well, Dad and I used to come down to London all the ti-". She stopped suddenly, and sad look crossed her face. "What?" Harry asked, concerned. "Oh…It's nothing." She was silent for a moment, then "It's just-"A man's voice over the intercom cut her off. "Due to Weather Conditions, expect delays on the Bakerloo Line and District Line. The Good Service is operating on all other lines. Thank you for riding the London Underground.

Harry groaned, and Lillie shot him a sorry smile. "Hey, don't worry, we'll just hang out here. There's lots of great little stores in the station, and if the snow dies down enough, we could go check out Kensington Gardens, just until they get the train running again." She looked so happy at this prospect, that Harry felt it would be a crime to refuse.

They spent about two hours perusing the various stores and kiosks at the station. They didn't buy much, just a couple of Mars Bars to tide them over. (Neither of them had that much money, at least, in Harry's case, not Muggle Money.) Harry, who had grown used to Wizarding sweets, was surprised at how great a regular Mars Bar could be when you're wasting time with a friend, in a train station, listening to someone with dreadlocks play a saxophone.

Eventually, they got hungry enough to buy some real food, a couple of small sandwiches, and some hot chocolate. "You know" Lillie said as she unwrapped her sandwich. "This is the most fun I've had in a long time." Harry, whose mouth was already full, thought of Umbridge, and nodded in agreement. They chatted happily awhile about the weather, the sandwiches, and what they thought the various commuters around them where doing for Christmas. Finally, Lillie excused her to visit the girl's room.

As she walked away, a though seized Harry, tomorrow would be Christmas Eve, and if the trains began running again he would have to be on his way to the Dursleys tomorrow _morning_, in order to get there before the Underground closed for the holiday. As Lillie most likely had her own destination she was trying to reach, this would probably be the last time he would ever see her. He had only known the girl about half a day, but the thought made him sad. She was the kind of friend he had wished for back when he had no idea he was The Boy Who Lived.

Just then, he had an idea. He swept his sandwich wrapper into the trash, and began counting his remaining Muggle money. It was enough to get him a ticket to Little Whinging, and a few more snacks besides. He decided he could stand to be hungry for a day; after all, he'd had enough practice at it back when he was sleeping in the Dursley's cupboard. Quickly, he racked his brain, trying to figure out what he could buy with this small amount of money, which Lillie might like for Christmas.

His eyes scoured the nearby shops, trying to find something he could buy before she came back. Finally, he noticed a small flower shop. He rushed over, and looked around at the various kinds. On the counter was a box of small flower shaped pins. He looked them over, finally finding one shaped like a white lily. He had just enough time to purchase it, stash it in his pocket, and rush back to the table, before Lillie came back.

"Hey." She greeted him as she sat back down. "Hey." He replied back, a little breathlessly. "So, the trains haven't started up again?" He shook his head. She nodded as if to say she expected this, and then grinned. "Well, the snows died down a bit, it'll probably still be awhile before they're up and running, you wanna checkout Kensington Gardens?" "Sure!" They grabbed their hot chocolates, and headed out of the station. Harry had never been to the park before, so he followed behind Lillie, who guided him down Kensington High Street.

Harry was enthralled. Covered with newly fallen snow, the park looked like a literal winter wonderland. Lillie was an excellent tour guide, leading him around the Long Walk, she showed him the various sights. Kensington Palace, the Round Pond, the Italian Gardens, the Peter Pan statue next to the Serpentine, and finally, the awe-inspiring Albert Memorial. Harry couldn't believe in all the times he'd been to London, he had never once visited the park. Lillie couldn't believe someone could have lived in _England _their whole life and never once visited the park. He explained his aunt and uncle had never been big on family outings, at least ones that included him, or really, anything that had included him.

"Sheesh, no wonder you ran away." Harry stopped walking, and said, rather uncomfortably, "Well… I didn't exactly run away from _them_… actually, I'm headed back to their house." Lillie looked confused. "But they sound terrible! Why would you go back to a place you _hate_?" "I wonder the same thing every summer." Harry muttered under his breath. Lillie walked in front of him, and fixed him with a stern look. "Harry, there's something you're not telling me, I know I said you running away was your business but… what are you running away from that's worse than your Dursleys?" Harry looked down at the ground, and sighed. "I-it's complicated. _Really_ complicated, y-you wouldn't understand."

"Oh." Lillie said, and Harry flinched at her cold tone. "Fine then, if you want to be miserable the rest of your life, living with people you despise, it's no skin off my nose, I'll just g-" "No!" Harry exclaimed, surprising himself with his urgency. Lillie folded her arms with a pout; clearly, she wasn't going to give up trying to figure out what sort of trouble he was in. He sighed again; this was not going to be easy.

"Look, I really wish I could tell you, I _want_ to tell you but-" "Harry, I swear if you say ,_then I'd have to kill you_- "at this, Harry burst out laughing, and despite her best efforts to remain stern, Lillie couldn't help but join in. It took them almost two minutes to stop. They laughed so hard they had to sit down.

"L-L-Look-" Harry finally got out, gasping for breath, placing a hand on Lillie shoulder, which was still shaking with silent laughter. "Let's not fight about this. Tomorrow, I have to head off for the Dursleys, and you'll be going to-well, where ever you're going. And…" He blushed suddenly, and pulled the pin out of his pocket. "Well… here, thanks for a great time. Happy Christmas." Lillie finally stopped laughing, and looked down at the pin. Harry had a sudden, horrible thought that Lillie might be one of those girls who _hated _to get stuff that was a pun on their name, but then- "Oh Harry…" she said in a quiet voice. She picked it up gingerly, and pinned it to her coat, where it sparkled in the dimming light. "Thank you…" She grinned suddenly, "Hold on…"

She began to rummage around in _her_ pockets, and pulled out a key chain with a picture of the Gardens, and the name "Harry" printed on it. "I bought it back at the station. Mine's not as nice as yours, but-" "It's great." Harry interrupted, picking it up like it was worth a hundred pounds.. "It'll remind me of one of the best days I ever had." Lillie's smiled glowed. "Happy Christmas Harry."

They stood there, feeling awkward and happy at the same time, when a mischievous grin crossed Lillie's face. She bent down, and before Harry knew what was happing, he had a face full of snow, and he was chasing Lillie, (who was shrieking with delight), up and down the Long Walk, ready to retaliate. The snowball fight carried on until dusk fell on the park. By then the two teens where completely exhausted, and laughing fit to burst. "Th-the park will be c-closing soon-we should g-go back and check if the trains are running." Lillie managed to get out between giggles. "Yeah-yeah…" Harry agreed. "Just let me catch my breath." He lay down on the snow covered lawn, panting. Lillie lay down next to him, and began to make a snow angel. Harry joined her.

"When I was little," Lillie began, moving her arms up and down, "my dad would always pick me up out of the snow, so my snow angel didn't have hand prints in it." Harry smiled at the mental picture of this. Lillie turned her head to look at him."What happened to your parents Harry?" Harry was silent for a moment, trying to decide what to say, he decided on the truth. "They died. When I was one. My aunt Petunia is my only living blood relative, I guess that's why the Dursleys got stuck with me." "I'm sorry." Lillie whispered. "S'ok. " Harry said, trying to sound unaffected, "I don't really remember them." "Still…" "Yeah." The only sounds for the next minute were those of the traffic out on the street, and the swish of their coats in the snow. Finally, Harry screwed up enough courage to ask something he'd been wondering. "What happened to your dad?"

Lillie stopped moving, and stared up at the trees. "What do you mean?" "Well… you keep mentioning him in past tense…so…" He tapered off, seeing a tear was now rolling down her cheek. She sat up, and brushed it away, after a moment of silence she whispered, "I don't know… see-"

"There you are!" Both teens looked over towards where the voice had come from. When Harry saw who it was, his blood ran cold. Rushing towards them out the dark, was a band of _Death Eaters_. Harry and Lillie shot up to their feet, exclaiming "They're after me!" They whirled to face each other. "They're after _you_?" Harry looked around desperately, trying to see if there was any way to escape. He didn't think he could reach his wand on time; he'd stuck it in his trunk. Lillie meanwhile had whipped something out of the long pocket on the front of her coat. "Get down!" she cried, and grabbing Harry's shoulder, pushed him down to his knees. A blinding light _exploded_ above his head with a _crack_! Harry covered his ears and shut his eyes to block it out. When he opened them a second later, the Death Eaters lay sprawling on the ground, unconscious. Amazed, he looked up at Lillie; the tip of the wand in her hand still glowing. His eyes boggled.

"_You're a witch?_" She looked down at him sheepishly, "Well-um…" Suddenly, Harry noticed one of the Death Eaters behind her beginning to move. With all the quickness four and a half years as Seeker had brought him, he reached up, grabbed the wand from Lillie's hand and cried "Stupefy!" Once again light shot out of the wand, and the Death Eater fell back to the ground. Now it was Lillie's turn to look amazed.

"_You're_ a _wizard_?" She stared at him a second, before something seemed to dawn on her, and she jumped back with a squeak, pointing a finger at him. "_You're Harry Potter!_" "I _told_ you I was!" Harry exclaimed, getting up from the snow. "Well, yes… but you didn't tell me you were _the _Harry Potter! I just thought it was a funny coincidence! I mean, if_ I_ was _the_ Harry Potter, and _I_ was on the run, I'd at least use some sort of _pseudonym_!"

"Can we have this conversation somewhere else?" Harry said in a loud whisper. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather prefer _not_ to be around when they wake up." He gestured towards the fallen Death Eaters. Lillie looked like she was about to say something more, then stopped, and nodded. Silently, they edged their way out of the circle of dark wizards, and then ran quickly down the Long Walk out to the street.

"I wonder how they found me so fast." Harry pondered aloud. They were hiding in an alley behind a fire escape. After they had run far enough away; they felt it was safe to catch their breath. "I'm not so sure it was you they were looking for." Lillie replied quietly. "What do you mean?" "Well, about a week ago, around midnight, they-they broke into my house." Lillie's eyes closed, concentrating on the memory.

"I was in my room asleep; Dad had brought me home from school early, because he was going to have to work over the actualholiday, so this was going to be our together time. Anyway, I woke up when I-" "I've never seen you at school." Harry interrupted. "That's because I don't _go_ to Hogwarts, I go to Beauxbatons." She explained quickly, trying to move on with the story. "Why don't you have an acce-" "_I live in England!_" she cried, "I just go to school there! _Now!_ I was asleep in bed, but I woke up because I heard loud noises downstairs, like somebody was arguing. I snuck out on the landing, and there were these two guys in dark cloaks and masks in our front hall. I didn't know then they were Death Eaters. Anyway, they had my dad pinned to the wall with their wands, and they were talking with him…well, it was really more like _interrogation._ "

"What'd they say?" Harry asked. "They were asking him about something; it was kind of hard to hear. But I did catch my dad saying, "… I don't _know_ _how_ to do it! It was an accident! I couldn't replicate the results even if –" And then they argued some more, and then one of them said," Well, perhaps The Dark Lord can get your _daughter _to help persuade you." Then Dad pulled out his wand, and they started to fight!" Lillie's breath became faster at this part, as if she were seeing the duel right then. "My dad's really good with a wand, that's how I learned to do that spell that knocked those Death Eaters at the park out. But …the ones at my house were better, they Stunned my dad, and…and that's when I ran back to my room, climbed out my window, and hid."

The shame at abandoning her father showed in Lillie's face and voice. It took her a moment before she was able to continue. "I went back later, after I was sure they'd gone. My house was a mess. They'd obviously ransacked the place searching for me. And Dad…Dad was … I didn't know what to do, I-I kinda just lay on my dad's bed and…cried for a while. I knew I couldn't count on the Aurors or the Magical Law Enforcement Squad to find him, not with the way the Ministry's been acting towards anything related to You-Know-Who. Finally, I decided I'd have to go after them myself. I packed my rucksack, found our emergency stash of Muggle Money, and, well…set out to try and find my dad. Since then I've been wandering around London, trying to avoid getting picked up by Muggle Policemen or captured by Death Eaters, until yesterday, when I got bowled over by this tall skinny kid with glasses. "She gave a Harry a small smile. "And that's about it."

Harry sat there, silent. Of all the reasons he'd imagined Lillie had run away, this had never been one of them. "Why do you think they wanted your dad?" he asked. "I dunno, Dad's pretty smart, he's a Professor, he's written all sorts of things about who knows what. It sounded to me like they wanted him to, I don't know, _make_ something." Harry pondered this for a moment, wondering what it was Voldemort could possibly want made that he couldn't create himself; after all, he was pretty much the most powerful wizard in the world, apart from Dumbledore.

"So, what about you?" "Excuse me?" Harry asked, coming out of his thoughts. "Well, I've told you my story, so, what about yours?" Lillie scooted closer, like a small child eager to hear a new bedtime story. "Mine's...mine's too complicated." Lillie frowned, "_Harry_" she said in a warning tone, "You've already said that. Now either come up with a better excuse, or _tell me_. And need I remind you, you _owe_ me for saving your life just now, so let's hear it." Harry sighed, and, after quietly warring with himself, decided that she did deserve the truth. If she ran after finding out Voldemort could be controlling him, then at least she would be safer than if she stayed.

His story took longer to tell then hers, as she kept wanting things explained, and he kept having to go further and further back to do so. It was nearing midnight when he finally reached the end. By then he had covered Voldemort's return, the attack of the dementors earlier that year, his strange dreams of dark corridors, and Mr. Weasley's attack by the snake. (He was careful however to leave out any mention of Sirius and the Order, which, though difficult, he thought he managed quite well). "…And so then, I heard one of the adults visiting Mr. Weasley saying Voldemort-" Lillie winced, but didn't cry out like most people his age did when he said the name. "Sorry, _You-Know-Who_, might be controlling me, and so I decided-" "You decided your friends would be safer if you left." Lillie finished for him. "Yeah…"

Harry looked up at her, as if expecting her to say "Well, have a nice life then, please don't turn into a snake and attack me while I run away screaming in horror." Instead, Lillie just looked at him, much like she had back at the Underground station where they had first met. Finally, in a voice both quiet and confident, she declared. "I don't care." Harry couldn't believe his ears. "What?" he asked in amazement, sure he had misheard. "I don't care." She said again, a little louder. "You're my friend, and I don't abandon my friends when they need me. If You-Know-Who can control you when you're asleep, I can help you stay awake. If you think getting to those awful Dursleys can help prevent him using you, then I'll help you get there. Besides…" she said with a smile, "Someone has to come along and keep those Death Eaters off you."

Harry could only shake his head in wonder. "But-what about your dad?" Lillie bit her lip, thinking about that. "… He'd …understand. He's always supported you. When the Ministry started to write all those nasty things about you being off your rocker, he said they were fools, and that he'd always suspected He-Who-Must-Not- Be-Named would come back. If keeping you safe will help in the fight against the dark side, Dad would want me to help _you_, and not worry about _him_." Her tone was so sure, so final, that Harry knew she would do it. She would abandon trying to find her father for him, a boy she'd only met a day ago.

At that moment, Harry knew he could _not_ go to the Dursley's. He could not hide out in Private Drive while this amazing young woman set out _alone_. "No." he declared. "Harry, I want to help y-" "I mean no, I'm not going to the Dursleys." He looked her straight in her identical green eyes. "_I'm _going with _you. _I'm going to help you find your father. "

Lillie's mouth dropped open. Before she could reply, Harry continued, "Vol-…You-Know –Who wants him for a reason. Whatever it is, it can't be good. Finding _him_ will help with the fight." Harry reached over, and squeezed her hand tight. "And _you _are _my_ friend. I'm not leaving you now." Suddenly, he grinned, "And like you said, I _owe _you." Lillie stared at him for a long moment, too shocked to speak. Then, with a cry of "Oh-you-!" she threw her arms around him, hugging him so tight, Harry almost told her to loosen up, because he couldn't breathe. Instead, he just smiled, and hugged her back.

Wow! That is the longest Chapter I think I've ever written! Well, I hope you all enjoyed it! I don't know how soon I'll be able to update, I've got a lot to chapters to write, and I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed this week. (Yay me ). But good stuff coming up, good stuff! Well, thanks again for reading! Reviews are always welcome! (Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, the Order can't track Harry through his Stupefy spell, because he didn't use _his_ wand. Just to clear that up.)


	4. Chapter 4 : Introducing the Inspector

Chapter 4 already! I've been looking forward to writing this one, I hope you all like it as well! Sorry it's taken so long, I've been recovering from getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Also, I do not own Harry Potter in anyway. ON TO THE STORY!

If someone was to look at the outside of Sherringford "Ford" Ignatius Sacker, they would see a tall, dusty- blond, good looking young man of about twenty three. They would probably notice his wizarding robes sported a Magical Law Enforcement Squad badge on one side, and a crescent moon pin on the other. Over all, he looked like just another young Ministry employee waiting to give some sort of report to the Minister of Magic.

If someone, however, was to take a look _inside _Inspector Sacker, they would find a very _nervous _young Ministry employee; wondering if solving forty three consecutive cases during his five years in the MLES was really enough to get the Minister to take what he was going to say seriously; or if he hadn't better duck out, reschedule his appointment, and solve a few more.

Ford did not get the chance to duck out however, as just then, the door to the Minister's office opened, and Cornelius Fudge called out from inside, "Well, come on in my boy, doors' open!" Ford took a deep breath, adjusted his uniform blue tie, and stepped in.

"Thank you for taking time to see me Minister." Ford began as he took a seat in front of Fudge's desk. "I know you're a busy man." Fudge waved this away with a kindly grin, "Oh, never too busy to take time for the man who solved the Withering Will o' Whisp case! Among many others, so I've heard! Ah, Commissioner Ogden used to speak very highly of you lad, "Makings of Greatness" he said, "Makings of Greatness!" "Fudge smiled at Ford again, who nodded, remembering the old MLES officer fondly. He didn't get on half so well with the new head of the department, one L. Strade Gregston, who found Ford's methods to be too "unconventional".

"So my boy, what is you wanted to see me about? You're memo said it was urgent?" Ford nodded again, choosing his words carefully, given the Ministry's recent behavior, this would have to be done delicately. "Yes Minister, well…it's about…Harry Potter."

One didn't have to be Ford Sacker to notice Fudge's fatherly smile became rather _fixed_ at the mention of this name, as did his friendly tone. "Well…what of him, my boy?" "Well sir…" Ford paused for a moment, wondering how to put what he wanted to say, and decided to just state the facts as he always did.

"Sir, it's been three weeks now since Mr. Potter was reported having failed to return to Hogwarts. Potter was last reported leaving to visit a sick family friend, (namely one Mr. Arthur Weasley, an employee of the Ministry) during the Christmas Holidays. During these three weeks, no orders have been given to the Magical Law Enforcement Squad or Auror's Office to make any attempt at locating and returning Mr. Potter and-"

Ford paused here to take a breath, and also because Fudge's face had most definitely lost any sincere friendliness it might have had. "And…I was wondering…what _is_ the Ministry doing to insure Mr. Potter's safe return?" Fudge looked at Ford for a moment, before clearing his throat, and saying in a nonchalant voice, "Well Mr. Sacker " his 'my boy' abandoned. "Inspector" Ford said automatically, then seeing Fudge's glare, instantly regretting it. "Well, _Inspector_, rest assured that the Ministry _is_ working on insuring Mr. Potter's wellbeing. We want nothing more than his safe-ah-_return_." The very word seemed to pain Fudge.

"Yes Minister, but _who_, if not the MLES or the Aurors, is working on insuring his wellbeing? I'm probably mistaken, but it seems to me no one is in much of a hurry to make sure he _does_ return. Why I remember only two years ago back during the Black scare, when Potter went temporarily off grid. The whole Ministry was in an uproar for _hours_ until you yourself foun-"

"Yes well, we have several more important matters to worry about then where a d_isturbed_ teenager has run off to." Fudge interrupted. "But sir," Ford tried again "If Potter_ is_ disturbed, doesn't that give us all the _more_ reason to find him? If he cannot be trusted to take care of himse-" "_If_ he is disturbed Mr. Sacker? Surely you cannot deny that he _is_? Surely _you_ of all people don't believe these _insane_ stories about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named _returning_? Of _dementors_ showing up in Little Whining? Of _Sirius Black_ being _innocent_?"

Fudge in his rant did not notice that Ford's eyes flashed at this mention of Black. If there was one thing that fascinated Sacker more than solving cases, it was anything that had to do with Sirius Black, the most notorious criminal since You-Know-Who. In fact, Black was part of what he'd come to talk about today, but from the looks of it, Fudge was in no mood to hear anymore about getting Harry Potter back, or anything related to it. Ford knew he had better cut his losses and leave while he still had a job.

"Yes Minister, I mean _no_, no…of course not." Ford replied, the picture of humility."Good." Fudge straightened his tie, which had come loose during his tirade. "Well then, I have a lot of work to do, and I'm sure _you _do as well. Good day _Inspector_ Sacker." And with a flick of his wand, he opened the door. Ford gave the Minister a polite nod, took the hint, and left.

Ford entered one of the lifts that led down from the first floor, but instead of traveling down to the second, where his office was located, he punched in the button for the eighth. The doors opened a moment later, and Ford stepped out into the Atrium. He walked past the Reception desk and various witches and wizards mulling about during their break, and took a seat on the side of the Fountain of Magical Brethren.

A few minutes later, a lift came up to the Atrium from the floor below, the Department of Mysteries. A small group of Unspeakables filed out, ignoring everyone else, as usual, as they headed off for home. One however, a pretty witch with short blond hair, noticed Ford waiting by the fountain, and came up to him.

"Hey Amy." Ford said, giving her a small smile and a quick hug. "Hi, how'd your meeting with the Minister go?" Ford gave an exasperated sigh, and she sat down next to him with an understanding smile. "That good huh?"

"I just mentioned Potter's _name_ and he closed up. I've said if before and I'll say it now, I don't think he cares if Potter's alive or dead, so long as he doesn't have to hear that You-" he cut himself off as a witch walked close by. After she was far enough away, he whispered, "That _You-Know-Who_ is back in business." "So what are you going to do?" Amy whispered back, "You can't publicly defend Potter; you'll be sacked like that." She snapped her fingers for emphasis, earning her some questioning looks from the passersby, which she ignored.

"I know I know…but look, I've got an idea." "Oh boy-" "Hey, it's a good idea, just hear me out. I'm going after Potter myself." Amy stared at him, "I thought we just discussed how that get's you fi-" "I'm not going to _ask_ to look for Potter, I'm going to take that vacation time Bob was always telling me I needed, and look for Potter on my _own_ time."

Amy pursed her lips, thinking about this. "Well…if anyone can find him, it's you." "You know it. Say, why don't you come with me? Heavens knows you could use a break as well." He gave her a playful punch on the arm, which she returned with a small laugh. "I think you and I have differing opinions on what constitutes a _break_. Besides…" she said, suddenly becoming serious. "I don't feel good leaving the Department unguarded. The bigwigs are so set in pretending everything's peachy, they refuse to post guards, even after what happened to that Weasley guy." "How is he anyway?" Ford asked as he stood up to stretch, he had had a long, stressful, disappointing day. "Well… it seems that he's recovered alright." "That's good, I was hoping to question him, apparently his son's pretty close to Potter. " "Bode's dead though." "Oh…I'm sorry."

Amy shrugged, trying to look unbothered. "It's alright, it's not like I really _knew _him, but…" She looked up at Ford, her eyes hard. "I do know he was too good an Unspeakable to have an '_accident_ 'like they say he did. Someone _did_ something to him to get him to try to take that-"Amy's mouth suddenly clamped shut, and her face became tight, like she was in pain. Ford sat back down quickly and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Amy! It's ok! Just—just _back track_, ok? I know you can't tell me." Amy nodded, and her mouth opened again. She took a deep breath, and growled out "Stupid Unspeakable Jinx…"

"Look, I don't think Bode tried to do-whatever it was, of his own accord either. But that's why I want you to come with me. If someone is targeting the Department of Mysteries, I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire, ok?" Amy shoved his arm off good naturedly, "Ah, you just don't want to lose a free place to crash when that land lady of yours kicks you out again." Ford shrugged, and then nodded in agreement. "Well, having a relative with such a nice flat_ is_ a perk, I admit. But besides that, what would I do without my favorite cousin?" "Sherringford, I'm your only cousin." "Yeah, Yeah, a small technicality, and don't call me Sherringford ,'_Amaryllis_'." Amy smirked at the weak jab.

"So, do you actually have an idea as to where Potter might be? Or are you just going to start at the top of England and work down to the bottom?" "Ha ha,_ no_. Actually, it's not so much a matter of finding Potter, as a matter of finding who _has _Potter." Amy raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" "I mean, I don't think that Potter disappeared on his own, I think he's with someone." He looked at his cousin, his eyes grave. "I think he's with Sirius Black."

Amy's eyes widened. "Black?" she said in a breathless whisper. "Yep." Amy pondered this for a moment, and then shook her head. "But that's crazy, I mean, no offense or anything Ford, but the Aurors are certain Black's in _Tibet _or somewhere. Besides, why would he come back to England after he_ finally_ managed to escape the country?" "Because he didn't get what he came for the last time. And he's _not_ in Tibet. Here, look at this-"He took a newspaper clipping out of his pocket, and handed it to Amy. She could tell it was from a Muggle Newspaper, as the picture didn't move. The headline read:

**HOUND OF BAKERSVILLE STRIKES AGAIN!**

The abnormally large stray the citizens of our fair town have taken to calling, _The Hound_, has indeed struck again. This time seen breaking into the butchers shop on Adler Lane; the beast made off with two strings of Italian sausage before disappearing again into the night. Police are baffled as to how an animal this large has managed to evade discovery, as well as seemingly _open locked doors_, as none of the shops hit by this curious canine show any signs of broken windows,or holes.

A picture was included of a huge black dog running past a streetlight into the mist, sausages swinging from its teeth, which were curled back into what looked like a smug grin.

Amy looked back up at Ford, "Uh…so?" Ford looked disappointed, "_So_? So sighting _just _like this one were frequent when Black was loose last time, and _always_ in town Black was also seen in! That's _not_ a_ coincidence_, no matter what those clodhoppers in the MLES Department. think." He grumbled this last part.

"Sirius Black is an Animagus?" Amy asked skeptically. "You have to admit it would explain a lot," Ford said with a shrug, "I'm just amazed no one else has figured it out yet, I mean, the clues are all right there." He tapped the paper. Amy sighed. "I don't know Ford, I mean, it all seems so…" She stopped suddenly, thinking, "Actually…that _would _explain a lot…and not just about how he's managed to stay hidden so long…I always wondered how my shoes managed to get in the state they did." She mumbled. "Alright, you've convinced me."

Ford beamed with pride. "Great, I figured if I could get anyone to see it was Black, it'd be you. After all…" He said with a grin. "He did leave you at the altar." Amy glared at her cousin. "He did not _leave me at the altar_." She turned away from Ford, lost in thought. "He didn't get a chance to. He was too busy getting arrested and shipped off to Azkaban."

Ford blushed uncomfortably, feeling guilty at bringing up the subject. "Well…look, I'm sorry…but…I really could use your help Amy. The longer Potter's gone, the harder he'll be to find. You know Sirius Black better than anyone alive-" "Wrong, I _knew _Sirius Black, I haven't seen the man in fourteen years, except when I bump into his wanted poster." "Still, you're my best hope at finding him. Can you think of anywhere he might go? Any old friends who might still be willing to help hid him? Or might just know something that could help?"

Amy was silent for a long while. Ford wondered if she didn't want to talk to him anymore. He tried one more card, "You _do _want to help Harry, don't you? I mean, the kid was almost your _godson_…" Amy remained silent. Ford mentally kicked himself. He shouldn't have mentioned Black's connection to her at all; it was a mista-"Well…there is one guy." Ford's head snapped up at this. Amy's voice was stern as she turned back to her cousin. "I'll take you to the house, but after that I'm _out_, ok? You run around looking for Black if you want, I've got other things to worry about."

Ford nodded, understanding. "Great, who's the guy?" Amy thought for a moment, trying to remember the name. "It's something _Latin_… Regus…Romulus…Remus…_Remus_! _Remus Lupin_!"

Far away, in a field several miles outside Bakersville, Harry Potter shot up from sleep with a gasp, clutching his scar. Lillie whipped around, concerned, "Harry? What is it?". "Scar…burning…" Lillie's eyes widened, "Is it-are you going to-?" She could not say it, but Harry shook his head. "No, no I-I don't think so…It's _him_, he-he's really…_happy_ about something…" Lillie stared at him incredulously. "You-Know-Who? _Happy_? About what?" (Harry had told her weeks ago about his scar's strange connection to Voldemort's moods.) He shook his head, "I don't know…but whatever it is, you can bet it can't be good for any of us."

Harry sighed, and rubbed his forehead, erasing the last traces of pain. He looked back at Lillie, who still looked worried. He smiled halfheartedly at her. "Look, you get some rest ok, I'll take watch." "No, my time's not up yet, you-" "Lil, I'm up anyway, I'll take watch."

Early on, the pair had realized it would be impossible for Harry to stay awake the entire time they searched. It might take them months to find Lillie's father. So Lillie had suggested they sleep taking watches, Lillie first, then Harry, and back and forth. This way, Lillie could keep an eye on Harry as he slept, and they would never be surprised by anyone. So far, the plan was working quite well.

Lillie sighed, recognizing defeat. "Oh, alright…" she flashed a small at him as she settled onto the ground, trying to get comfortable. "Ugh…I swear my back must be completely black and blue from all this roughing it. I can't wait till we get back to my place; I just hope the Deatheaters didn't get the same idea and decide to show up as well." About a week and half ago, they'd decided that they weren't making any progress in London, and Harry had suggested going back to Lillie's house, to search for any clues she might have overlooked.

"Well, " Harry said with a sigh, "I guess we'll just have to take our chances." Lillie laughed humorlessly, turning onto her back. "That's us, Lillie and Harry; _fearless_ searchers, we _laugh_ at the face of danger, never mind we're cold, dirty and completely out of Muggle money, living off pies people leave on their windowsills. Never mind we're on the run from Deatheaters (she began counting on her fingers) the Wizarding World in general and the Ministry in particular, though they haven't been very conspicuous have they? And now with your godfather on our heels-" "Let's not talk about Sirius, ok?"

Another reason Harry had been eager to leave London, was that they had narrowly avoided Sirius several times while there. Harry had recognized his godfather's shaggy form instantly, and only luck had kept Sirius from noticing them on their several near run- ins. After the first three, Harry had been forced to tell Lillie why he was so nervous of the large dog. She had surprised him by instantly believing him when Harry insisted Sirius was innocent of betraying his parents and murdering the fourteen Muggles. "Dad was at school when Sirius and your dad where there Harry, and he always said only an _idiot_ would believe Sirius Black could sell out James Potter. He said anyone could see Sirius thought of James as more his brother then he did his _real _brother. Man you're lucky though, you get a godfather _and_ a dog. I always wanted a dog, but Dad would never let me get one."

Since then, they had been extra cautious to avoid Sirius. So far they had been lucky, they even thought they had lost him, until they'd picked up a Muggle newspaper one day, and noticed an article about a strange large dog ransacking butcher shops. Obviously, they hadn't been as discreet as they'd believed. They had taken to zigzagging, covering their tracks and leaving false trails. But they still didn't feel very safe.

Harry pondered on the irony of it all. A year ago, he would have been happy that Sirius was making such an effort to find him, and the year before that…well, Sirius had been making an effort _then_, and Harry had been less than ecstatic. Why couldn't Sirius just give up? It would be better for both of them. He was putting himself at too much risk; if he was caught…Harry didn't want to think about Sirius being caught, in fact, it was just easier and less painful not to think about Sirius at all.

"Lil…" Harry turned at the sound of Lillie's voice. "What?" "Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking, _Lil, _that's nice. Nobody's ever called me Lil before, I like it, I'll have to find a nickname for you." Harry grimaced, "You won't have much to go off of, my name's pretty much as short as it will go." Lillie clicked her tongue, thinking about this. "Well, I suppose so. Oh well, I can always call you _Harold_, when I'm cross at you." She turned her back to him, grinning. Harry gave a humph "Only if I get to call _you Lillian_." She rolled over to stick out her tongue, and then rolled back on her side, snuggled down into sleep.

Harry smiled to himself, getting into a comfortable position to wait out his watch. He looked up at the stars, you could never see stars like that in Little Whinging. Not for the first time, Harry was grateful that he had met Lillie. He looked over at her sleeping form; there was just something about her, she just felt so…_right_. Liked he'd been waiting for her for a long time, but had never known it. Harry's brow wrinkled in thought. How did he_ feel_ about Lillie? He wasn't sure; he _liked_ her, very much, but, did he…

Harry shook his head, clearing it. He had to keep an eye out for anyone who might see them. And there were more important things to worry about then how he felt about a girl, things like _Voldemort_. Harry rubbed at his hand as he pondered, feeling the scars left by Prof. Umbridge. What was the Dark Lord planning? What had happened to make him the happiest he'd been in fourteen years? Harry shuddered, and whispered again to himself, "Whatever it is, it's no good for any of us…"

Done! Wow! Writing this took a lot longer than I wanted it to, sorry guys. Well, I hope this long chapter makes up for making you all wait so long for an update. I'm afraid you'll have to wait awhile again, as I'm going on vacation with my family. But don't worry! I have this whole story planned out, I just have to write it and get it up. Well, until next time, thank you for your reviews! Keep um coming!


	5. Chapter 5 : And Remus makes Three

Hey Everybody! I'm not dead! I'm sooo sorry for keeping you guys waiting so long! I hope the length of this chapter will help you forgive me! But once again, I do not own anything in Harry Potter, so onto the show!

Ford looked apprehensively at the boarding house in front of him. The windows were dirty with years' worth of dust, and the walls were riddled with cracks and covered in graffiti. All in all, not the sort of place one expected to find a former Hogwarts professor in. However, if that professor also happened to be a down on his luck werewolf, (and heaven knew how many of the poor souls were out of a job these days, thanks to those new werewolf registration and restriction laws) it didn't seem so off the mark. Still…

"You sure this is the place?"Ford asked, turning to his cousin, who was still steadying herself after their Apperation in front of the building. "This is the address given on his registration card. I had no idea he was this bad off…" Her voice held a trace of guilt, Ford thought it was probably due to the fact she had once been a good friend of the man, but had never bothered to see him after Sirius's arrest.

"Well…come on then, we better see what he can tell us before this place falls down." Amy nodded, and walked in, leading the way up the narrow, trash covered stairs to a door on the third landing. She hesitated for a moment, and then knocked softly. After a moment, the door opened, a tall man in ragged robes and messy brownish-gray hair stood in the frame. "Remus?"

The man blinked, looking confused at this stranger addressing him by his first name. "Yes…?" he looked over at Ford, and his eyes narrowed. "Can I –help you?" "I-I suppose you won't remember me, but-"Amy blushed, embarrassed at how this reunion was going. "Well, I'm-" "Amy?" Remus's eyes had widened now, and a smile broke over his face. "Amy Harper! I don't believe it! Is that you?" Amy smile back, relieved that he remembered. "In the flesh."

Remus flung the door back so fast it almost hit Ford in the nose, but he was too busy shaking Amy's hand to notice. "Good Heavens Harper! I haven't seen you since-" He broke off suddenly, remembering the last time he had seen her. "Uh, well…since-" "Since you came to tell me the news about James and Lily and…yeah…" "Yeah…" The two stood in an awkward silence for a moment, which was broken by a pointed cough from Ford.

"Oh-right-um Remus, I'm afraid this isn't just a social call. I-We need to talk to you about…well, could we come inside?" Remus looked over at Ford, and raised an eyebrow. "Well…I suppose…and you are…?" Ford stepped forward, extending his hand. "Ford Sacker, I'm Amaryllis's cousin." Remus nodded, and shook Ford's hand, but he still looked wary. "Well, I'm afraid the place isn't very tidy at the moment, I wasn't expecting any company." He led them into the flat, grinning sheepishly.

The place certainly could have used a scrubbing, or five. Dust was high on almost every surface, and everything looked to be in a state of disrepair. Ford's eyes took in the room, scanning every item for something that could tell him more about their owner then the state of his bank account.

"So." Remus said, pulling out a pair of chairs at his table for Amy and Ford. "What is it you needed to talk to me about?" Ford pulled his gaze from the kitchen area, where a tea kettle was steaming on the stove, and focused on Remus. He straightened himself into what Commissioner Ogden had called his "down to business "face. "Mr. Lupin, what do you know about the whereabouts of either Sirius and or Harry Potter?"

Amy slapped her palm to her face and groaned, "Great start up Mr. Subtlety." Remus's eyes narrowed again. "I have no idea what you're talking about Mr. Sacker." "Oh I think you do Mr. Lupin. " Ford's voice had taken on a no nonsense edge, the way it always did when he was about to crack down on someone he _knew_ knew more than they were telling. "You were friends with Black during your school years, weren't you? " "Well-yes but" "And eyewitnesses can account that you met with Black again two years ago when he first became at large." " I was trying to save-!" "_ And _even though you said you were not expecting company just now, you already have a kettle going, which I can tell from the sound of the steam is not all the way full."

Amy, forehead still in her hands, groaned again. Ford was showing off now, like he _always _did _anytime_ she took him _anywhere_. She could see from Remus's rapidly reddening face that any chance of a civil conversation was quickly decreasing. Ford, normally so perceptive to detail, did not notice, and plowed on.

"This, and the presence of _two _saucer indents in this dust proves you did _not_ just put it on for yourself, and _did_, in fact have someone else in your apartment before we came. As the kettle is still partially full and on the burner, I deduce that the person left only moment before we arrived, and your unwillingness to answer my questions proves that it was someone you would rather not have the Ministry know about!" Ford grinned triumphantly at a wide eyed Remus. "Brilliant Sherlock." came a muffled retort from Amy.

Remus's was looking daggers at Ford. " _Mr. Sacker, _obviously you've already made up your mind on whether I know anything or not, so let me set you straight. I do _not _know where either Harry _or_ Sirius Black are, nor have I had _an_y contact with them this past month." "But you did have someone here, didn't you?" Ford interjected. "Who I have over in my home is my own business. Now, if you're _quite _done, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Remus began to stand up, probably to forcibly push Ford out the door if he needed to, but Amy reached out and gripped his arm, pulling him back.

"Remus please, I'm sorry about Ford, he doesn't really get the concept of _tact_. We didn't come over here to badger you; really, we're just both very concerned about Harry. Especially considering… recent events…" Remus eyed her warily, "What do you mean?" Amy looked over at Ford, who thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I-_We_… Ford and I believe Dumbledore and Harry are telling the truth. That You Know Who _has _come back, and we're sure he's going to try to go after Harry. The ministry isn't going to do anything to find him, they're glad that Harry's disappeared! But Ford is, going to try and find him I mean. Ford thinks that Black might be able to lead us to Harry, so-" "So he was hoping I could lead you to Black." Remus interjected. "Yes… Please Remus, we've only got Harry's best interest at heart, I'm sure Ford didn't mean to offend you- _Did you Ford_?" She turned and looked pointedly at her cousin, who had the courtesy to look embarrassed.

"Um…yes…I'm sorry Mr. Lupin, I get…_carried away_ sometimes… I-I hope you'll still help us though, we're really all on the same side….Truce?" He stuck out his hand, looking awkward. Remus continued to frown at Ford for a moment, before finally accepting his hand. "Truce." Amy breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm afraid I won't be that much help though, I really have no idea where either of them could be."

Ford considered this for a moment, finally he said, "I think I have an idea, it's a bit crazy, but it just might-"He was cut off by a tinging sound that seemed to be coming his trench coat pocket. "Oh, 'scuse me a second." He reached in a pulled out what appeared to be a woman's compact mirror. He flipped it open, and noticed Remus and Amy both staring at him. "What? It's my MLES scanner. We use it when we have to get a message out quicker than an owl can carry it. We're the only department that uses them because they're kinda temperamental." "So…it's like a cell phone?" Remus asked. " Yeah, kinda." Amy still looked confused. "A-what?" Remus and Ford both gave her a pitying glance, and Ford shook his head."Purebloods."

Ford stepped out into the hall took take his 'call', leaving Amy and Remus sitting together in awkward silence. "So…" Remus said finally, breaking the stillness, "How've you been?" Amy shrugged. "Pretty good….you?" Remus shrugged back."Same." Amy raised an eyebrow, and he gave a small smile. "Well…not _pretty_ good… _fairly _good?" Amy smiled back."I'll take fairly." She looked over at the door Ford stood behind, and her smile fell. She turned back to Remus, and sighed. " I'm really sorry about Ford again, he-he has _issues _when it comes to Sirius. I don't think he's ever gotten over it."

Now it was Remus's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Amy sighed again, and straightened up in her chair to begin an explanation she clearly was reluctant to give.

"Well, back when Sirius and I were…together, Ford was staying with me at my house. He was only a teenage then, his parents were…well things weren't great at home, so he'd decided to stay with me until things cooled down. Sirius was always around back then, you know, when he wasn't off with you and James and Peter doing who knows what." She paused, smiling sadly at the memories of happier days that disappeared all too soon. She looked up at Remus, whose face had suddenly darkened. "What's wrong?" He looked up, and shrugged, "Oh, it's nothing, go on."

Amy wasn't so sure, but she continued. "Well, Ford and Sirius got pretty close. I think Sirius might have seen Ford as, well, sort of a replacement for the younger brother he'd never been able to be close to, and Ford just_ adored_ Sirius. To him, he was everything he wanted to be himself…and everything he wished his father could be… He looked up to Sirius the way he'd never been able to look up to someone before. And then, when Sirius went and…Well it _tore_ Ford _apart ._The _one_ man he thought he could count on had let him down. He's never been the same since_. _And when Sirius broke out of Azkabana few years ago,he-he became sort of _obsessed _with- "

"Tracking him down?" Remus finished. "So, this is as much about his vendetta against Sirius as it is finding Harry, isn't it?" Amy nodded. Remus sighed, and ran his fingers through his graying hair. Then looked at her intently... "Amy, do you _really _believe Sirius could betray James and Lily? Do you honestly think he could kill all those people?"

Amy looked down at her hands, trying to avoid answering the question. When she didn't respond, Remus continued, "Look, I know your cousin only wants to help, and do what he thinks is right, but are you really going to stand by while he helps hand your fiancé over to-"

" I don't know what I'm going to do!" Amy looked up at Remus, her eyes fierce. " I don't know what I believe, all I know is that the man I wanted to spend my life with, the man I wanted to raise a _family_ with, the man I _loved-" _Her voice broke at the word, and she had to pause for a moment before continuing. "The man I loved… was not the person I thought he was. He was keeping secrets from me Remus, long before anything happened to the Potters. He'd leave for days at a time without telling why or where he was going. No owls while he was gone, no explanations when he got back…" She wiped her eyes, which had become suddenly damp. She looked out of Remus's dirty broken window, and said softly, but firmly."I never knew Sirius Black, not really. I don't know what he is or isn't' capable of doing, all I _do_ know, is that there's a boy out there, a boy I used to play with and help put to sleep when we'd visit."

She smiled wistfully, and gave a small chuckle, "A little boy who used to refuse to eat strained peas and would call me 'Mee' because he couldn't say Amy… a boy I haven't been able to see in _fourteen years_…".She turned back to Remus, and though her eyes were wet and red, her voice was strong. "That boy is out there now, with one, possibly two, of the world's most dangerous men after him… and I will do _anything_ to make sure that boy is safe. _Anything_.…even go off with Ford on this whole crazy hunt thing of his…even put the man I loved in prison _again_…because I owe it to the Potters. I owe them their son."

Remus looked away from Amy as cleaned off her tear streaked face, both of them to emotional to speak anymore.

Remus used the silence to ponder what Amy had said. She obviously thought that Sirius _was_ guilty, and, as much as he wanted to tell her the truth…well… that could mean exposing Sirius, and the Order, the Wizarding World at large. That was something he definitely did _not _want to occur. And Sirius was his friend, his_ best _friend .As much as he wanted to help find Harry, he couldn't risk putting Sirius in danger. But what about this Ford Sacker? He didn't sound like someone who would just give up in if Remus couldn't help...Maybe, maybe it would be _safer _for Sirius if he _did_ go along with Amy and her cousin. After all, they might not even find Sirius, and if they did, well, then he could help him escape, he could convince him to go back to Grimmauld Place and let the Order look after finding Harry. And, if Sirius had already _found_ Harry…

"Amy?" Amy looked up, sniffing, as Remus said her name. "Yes?" "I'll do it." She blinked in surprise. " Do what?" "I'll come with you. I really don't have idea where they are, but I want to help. In any way I can, I-I owe it to Lily and James as well…I could have done so much more for him, Harry I mean…but…" "I know…" She said softly, reaching over to take his hand. "Me too…_Thank you_ Remus." Remus smiled softly back.

Just then Ford burst back into the room, sending Amy and Remus shooting up from their chairs in alarm. He was panting heavily, like he'd just run up a whole flight of stairs instead of just standing in a dusty hall for five minutes. His MLES scanner was clutched tightly in his hand, and his face was as white as a sheet.

" Ford what happened?" Amy gasped, startled by his appearance. "I-I-" He gulped, trying to calm himself enough to get the words out. "I just got back from Apperating to the Ministry. I had to find out for myself. The whole place is in chaos!" Remus and Amy stared at him. "Find out what for yourself? What's happened?" Remus asked roughly. Ford took another gulp. " Ormund Johnson, a Hit Wizard from my Department contacted me on the scanner , he told me that…There's been a _Mass Breakout from Azkaban_."

Amy's hand shot to her mouth as she fell back onto her chair. Remus's hands gripped the back of the chair tightly. "Who?" he asked "How many?" Ford closed his eyes tight, trying to remember. "Ah..ten I think…high security… All Death Eaters…"

A heavy silence fell on the room. "What…" Remus said quietly, " Is the Ministry doing about it?" Ford shrugged helplessly. "I don't know…Fudge's already gone to tell the Muggle Minister, but right now they're just…panicking…they haven't had to deal with something like this for-for ages." Ford had calmed somewhat by now, and looked hard at Remus.

"Mr. Lupin, I know you said you don't know where Harry or Black is, but the situation has just become more dangerous than ever. I have no doubt that You Know Who is behind this escape, and believe me, he didn't break his best men out of the securest prison in the Wizarding World and risk reveling himself to _not _use them to find Harry, and I-"

Remus held up a hand. "Mr. Sacker, I understand completely. Let's not waste anymore time. As I've just told your cousin, I'm coming with you. If you have any objections to that, well, keep them to yourself. Now, I believe, before your mirror interrupted you, you were about to tell us a crazy idea that just might work?"

For a second, Ford looked stunned. Then he grinned. "Right. Well, I-I guess we're a _Trio_ then. Ok, my idea." He sat down at the table and motioned for Remus to do the same.

"Alright, you know how the Ministry puts the Trace on kids so they can't do underage magic and get away with it?" Remus and Amy nodded slowly, wondering where this was going. "Well, we've been doing some work at MLES, or I guess I should say _I've _been doing some work. Not that Gregson pays any attention to my-" "Ford!" Amy said sharply. "Oh, right. Well, see, I've been working on a modified version of the Trace, to put on Criminals, you know, just in case they ever escape?" "Like they did today?" Remus asked dryly. Ford ignored him. "Well anyway, unlike the regular Trace, which detects magic but can't actually tell who's done it, this one _can_!"

Ford looked immensely pleased with himself as he said this, and Remus and Amy had to admit, it was a rather impressive bit of magic. "But how does that help us to find the Death Eaters or Black? You haven't put this Trace on them I assume?" asked Remus. "Well, no." Ford admitted. "But that's where my idea comes in!" "The crazy one?" "Yep" "That only _might _work?" "That's the one." "Brilliant."

"Can we get on past this clever banter?" Amy cut in. "_ If_ you _remember ,_there's a swarm of homicidal maniacs scourging England for Harry as we speak!" Both men blushed, and Ford went on. "Well, since my Trace can track magical signatures, all we'd need is to something that's been Charmed or Cursed or-whatever, by someone _related _to Black, put the Trace on _that_, specify we want it to Trace Black, and then wait for him to cast a spell. And the Trace will track him by the relation of the magical signatures! "

Amy gawked at her cousin, but Remus looked impressed. "So, it's sort of like a Muggle DNA match?" "Exactly!" "A Dean what?" Amy asked, but both men were becoming too animated to notice her. "So you use the related signature to track Sirius, who'll lead you to Harry? Is that about right?" "Yes! The only problem is-" "Where are you going to get a match?" Remus cut in. " Yes." Remus thought for a moment, "How close a relative does it have to be?" "Well, probably no farther than a cousin-" Ford began, when Remus shot up again and yelled."Wait just a second!" He rushed into his kitchen, pulled out a cup, and set it down on hard on the table.

"Here! A Repairing Charm was just used on this today! And I can guarantee the person who cast it is a cousin of Sirius Black!" Now it was Ford and Amy's turn to stare. "Who-" Amy began, but Remus waved a hand to shush her. "It's not important right now. Sacker, how certain are you this'll work?"

Ford had already pulled out his wand and was rolling up his sleeves. "Only one way to find out…" The three gathered around the cup , as Ford began the Trace Charm, hi s wand tip aglow with golden light.

" _Ostendo Sum Nobis User Illae Veneficus, Imprimis Sirius Black_…" The cup sat still, and the trio held their breath. Suddenly, the cup began to glow with the same yellow light; and started spinning and fizzing and sparking across the table like a Muggle firecracker. "Does that mean it worked?" Amy yelled over the noise. The glowing cup illuminated the grin on Ford's face like a Jack-O-Latern. "It did better work! It's picked up a spell already! _We've got our first lead_!

_Whoo! Sorry about the Long Wait you guys! But with College and everything… Anyway, Hopefully I'll be able to get back on track now! The next chapter should deal with what's going on at Hogwarts with Harry being AWOL, so you'll have to wait a bit longer to hear about Lillie and Harry and our new Trio. Hmmm, I really should think of some sort of team name for those three, any suggestions? Anyway, thanks for reading everyone! Luv Ya! Keep the reviews coming ok? They're my only motivation besides Lillie screaming at me while I sleep to get the story done! PS can you guess who cast the repairing charm?_


	6. Chapter 6 : Romance and Regrets

**Hello Everyone! I'm back again! I hope you all enjoyed that last chapter, thank you to those who reviewed. As always, I own nothing in Harry Potter…And here we go! (Oh, I realized in chapter 4 I made a mistake, Ford says that it's been three weeks since Harry should have returned to Hogwarts, but what I meant was It's been three weeks since he left, and never returned…so, yeah, glad that's cleared up.)**

Hermione sighed with exasperation, holding the bridge of her nose against a growing headache. "Alright…let's try this _again_… raise your arm, and remember, you bring it down and out in the opposite direction of the spell coming towards you. Sweep it_ around_ you, not straight in front! Now, who wants to help me demonstrate?"

The members of the DA shuffled nervously, looking at their feet. It had been only been three days since the rest of them had learned of Harry's disappearance, and moral had noticeably dropped. When Ron had informed Hermione of Harry's disappearance of the day before she'd arrived at Grimmauld Place, she'd begun to plan at once how they would continue until the Order found him. Secretly, she had been sure that her plans for the DA would be unnecessary, that the Order would surely find him within a few days. But days had turned to weeks, and the first day of term arrived with no news of Harry or Sirius. And so, as they rode the Knight Bus back to Hogwarts, she'd steeled herself to the facts that, not only would she have to break the news of his disappearance to the DA, she would probably have to take up leadership of the organization herself.

The news was not received gracefully. A sort of pandemonium had broken loose after Hermione had gathered the members and broken the news. Arguments arisen over where he could be, and what they should do now. Zacharias Smith had tried to incite a minor insurgency by declaring they should break up the Army, and begin studying within their own houses, obviously Potter didn't care about what happened to them. (He had narrowly avoided jinxed by several different people). Cho Chang had broken down sobbing, and had to be comforted by a very _uncomfortable_ Marietta. The Twins and Ginny (now that they were safely away from their mother's gaze) were all for creating a Finding Harry division and flying out to search the countryside that night, (several others on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team agreed with them).

Hermione had finally managed to call order with the help of Ron, who had cried out in a surprisingly loud voice "OY! ALL YOU SHUT IT!" Once they had all quieted down, Hermione had explained to them that Dumbledore was even now working on a plan to find Harry (she left out any mention of the Order of course, and that fact that thus far, they had been unsuccessful). She also assured them that DA meetings were still going to be held on schedule, and that until Harry returned, she and Ron would be heading the lessons. On hearing this, the group seemed noticeably relived (though it was evident that they had their doubts about Ron.)

This was their first official meeting since then, and Hermione had been attempting for the last twenty minutes to teach them the Shield Charm. She could tell though that their minds and hearts weren't in it, several of the members were nursing bruises from being socked in the stomach by unfully formed Shields. Hermione understood what was probably bothering them. Yesterday, they had learned of the mass escape from Azkaban, and everyone was noticeably on edge. Especially Neville.

Hermione was worried about Neville. He'd been oddly tense and irritated all day, and she thought she knew why. A few days after Harry had vanished she'd joined the Weasley's in visiting their father at St. Mungos. He was doing much better by then, but the wounds from his attack still had yet to fully heal. He had tried to heal them using stiches, a method that apparently did not work as well on magical wounds as it did on Muggle ones. To escape Mrs. Weasley's angry tirade over her husband's stupidity, the group had quickly evacuated down to the Tea Room. While there, Ginny had bumped into Neville, who was coming down from the floor above with his intimidating grandmother.

"Neville!" she had exclaimed with a small grin, "What're you doing here?" Neville had seemed very flustered at being asked this, and even more when it looked like his grandmother was about to answer. However, before she could, a young Healer had called her over to sign something, and Neville, looking relived, had left with her, muttering a quick "Gotta go…" and that had been that. As they were all mostly concerned with Harry, Neville's odd behavior was quickly forgotten…by everyone but Hermione.

While reading about the breakout, she had noticed one name in particular, Bellatrix Lestrange. Apparently, she was Sirius's cousin,(the Prophet was accusing him of masterminding the breakout) and she must have once been very beautiful, but judging from the picture of her in the Prophet, Azkaban had taken its toll. However it was not her face that interested Hermione, but the caption underneath, a caption she doubted many other had noticed: _Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom._ She had put two and two together after that, and she was highly certain that Neville's agitation was due to the escape of the person who had taken his family from him so many years ago, placing them forever in the care of St. Mungo's, in who knew what sort of state.

"I'll do it." The voice broke Hermione out of her revelry, "hmm?" "I'll demonstrate." "Oh… alright then…Neville…" Surprised by this willingness, Hermione took up the aggressive stance, while Neville took the defensive one. "Alright, everyone pay attention",( no problems there, Hermione frowned as she heard Zacharias Smith betting one of his friends that she ended up putting Neville in the Hospital wing.) "On three then, one-two-Three! _Expelliarmus_!"

"_**Protego**_!"

Hermione gasped as the fully formed shield charm sent her flying across the room( into a large stack of pillows place there just on the off chance someone actually managed to succeed casting the spell.) She hit the cushions so hard a puff of air escaped from several of them. As well as the air in her lungs. With a cry of alarm Ron rushed to her side, yelling "_What was __**that**__? What's __**wrong **__you Neville? Sheesh are you trying to __**kill **__her_?" Neville began apologizing profusely, and through pain induced, tear filled eyes, she could see he was obviously frightened by what he'd done. The entire room was staring at him, some alarmed, some appraising, all frankly stunned that Neville, _Neville_, had managed to succeed where all of them had failed.

Managing to get her breath back, she waved away a hovering Ron. "I'm cough I'm alright. That was cough cough really good Neville! Really cough spectacular!" "You-you sure you're alright? I'm so sorry Hermione I-" "No No," she said, clutching her aching ribs as Ron helped her to her feet. "It' fine really…maybe I should turn the lesson over to _you_, with a team full of punches like that You-Know-Who won't know what hit him, literally!" The DA laughed at the joke, diffusing the tension that had welled up. Several, including Hermione, had to stop quickly though, their ribs still too sore for humor.

"Well…I think that's enough for today," Hermione said after massaging her bruise. "Keep your coins handy, and we'll have another lesson as soon as we can, keep going over the movements in your head, remember, sweep around, not in front."

The DA broke up quickly, exchanging goodbyes, and mostly commenting on Neville's unexpected success. Hermione and Ron began walking back to Gryffindor Tower, but Ron was so intent on making sure she was alright, that she faked an excuse of having left one of her books behind in the Room of Requirement in order to get some breathing space.

"I can get it for you-" "NO! – I mean, no, that's alright, you go ahead, set up an icepack or something for me when I get there, ok?" Ron looked like he wanted to argue, but she flashed him a small smile, and he relented. "Well…ok… Just… be careful, ok?" "Sure Ron, Neville's probably waiting behind the statue of Uric the Oddball waiting to finish me off." Ron hmphed, clearly not amused by her joke, and headed off. Hermione smiled, shaking her head. Honestly, Ron could be so ridiculous sometimes…still… it was rather sweet of him to worry…

Deciding she had better make her alibi believable, she headed back to the Room of Requirement. She had only intended to wait inside for about a minute or two, but as she entered in the room, she heard the sound of voices. It was Neville, and…Ginny? Hadn't they left already? Interested in what they were saying, she slipped into the shadows in the corner, and listened.

"…I didn't mean to hurt her, I-I wasn't thinking…I…I feel so rotten…" "Oh Neville, nobody blames you, well, maybe Ron blames you, but everyone else was seriously impressed! How did you do that?" "…Do you really want to know?" "Of course!" "…Fourteen years ago, a Death Eater… named Bellatrix Lestrange, used the Crutiatus Curse on my parents."

Hermione heard Ginny gasp, Neville continued, his voice low and monotonus," She tortured them for information, but they never gave in…when I read about her escape…I don't know, it was like this…_fire _started inside me…and I just...I wanted to prove I could be as good as them, wanted to prove I was worthy to be their son…and…when I cast the charm…" "The fire came out?" Ginny finished for him. "Yeah… I'm quite proud to be their son. But I'm not sure I'm ready for everyone to know just yet…that's why I was in St. Mungo's that day…I went to see them…Gran thinks it's a waste of time, me talking to her, my mum, I mean…but I'm sure she recognizes me, sort of…" Hermione heard rustling, and peaked around the corner to look at the pair. Neville had pulled something out of his pocket, and was showing it to Ginny.

"She's always giving me these bubble gum wrappers, I've got over a hundred…Gran keeps telling me to throw them away…I don't think she's very proud of me, not telling everyone about them, my parents. She doesn't understand, I just…" "Want to keep them safe from people who wouldn't understand? Yeah, I know what that feels like." Neville and Ginny's backs were to Hermione, silhouetted against the dim lamps on the opposite wall. Neville's head was down, looking at what Hermione assumed was the bubblegum wrapper. Ginny reached over and placed a hand on Neville's back, and he looked up, or rather down at her, (he had grown considerably in the past year, he was almost a foot taller than Ginny).

"Oh Neville...You' re going to make them proud, I know you will… I wish I could be brave like you." "Brave?" Neville snorted, "What Hogwarts have _you_ been going to?" Ginny sighed, "One that's disappearing it looks like... Hagrid on probation, Umbridge whipping out her stupid decrees left and right, making everyone miserable…Harry gone…" This last part came out almost as a whisper, Hermione had to strain to hear it. Ginny had turned away from Neville now, and was facing into the darkness at the back of the room, arms folded close to her chest, as though for warmth. Now it was Neville's turn to place a hand on her back.

"You like him, don't you?" Ginny was silent for a moment, then, "Yes, I did like him, I mean, I do…I…I don't know…You want something for so long and then when you realize it's not going to happen, that there's not any interest, _never_ been any interest in you as anything more than the little sister of his best mate… I don't know, it's hard to let go…"

"Is that why you're dating that nitwit Michael Corner?" Ginny whirled around, and slugged Neville in the arm, but only softly. "Now you sound like Ron. Are you going to tell me I'm too young to have a boyfriend too?" "I don't think you're too young…" Neville said softly.

From what Hermionecould see of Ginny's profile, she was surprised at this remark, she had obviously been expecting a witty come back to her own teasing. "Oh…well. Thanks…I wouldn't mind if you told Ron that." She reached up to push back a strand of hair that had come loose when she'd whirled on Neville, but he reached it first, tucking it gently behind her ear, leaning in .Ginny blushed profusely, and her breath seemed to be coming up shorter than before.

Hermione looked out farther, hardly daring to breath. She felt like a peeping tom, but couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. Neville's hand was cupping Ginny's face with the hand he had fixed her hair with. Ginny was looking up at him, his face and hers only inches apart. They both looked sort of dazed. "Ginny…" Neville began softly, "Yes?" she whispered back. "I-I-"

"Gin?" Neville whirled around, and Hermione's heart leapt into her throat at the sound of _Michael Corner's_ voice coming thru the tapestry! "Gin? Where-oh, there you are! Hey, don't you remember we were going to study our potion notes together? Hey, what are you two doing here anyway?"

"I um…I-Neville left one of his books back here and I was helping him look for it!" Ginny improvised quickly. Hermione noted to herself to find a less common alibi the next time she needed one. She was just glad that Michael hadn't noticed her as he came in. "Oh…well, did you find it?" "Nope! Room must have swallowed it, or …something…anyway…lets go look at those potions notes shall we?" Ginny exclaimed hurriedly as she grabbed Michael and practically pushed him out of the room. Neville was left alone in the dimming light, staring at her retreating form, and then after she'd gone, the wall. His hand was still slightly outstretched.

"Augh!" He growled, clenching his hand into a fist and slamming it into the wall. "What was I thinking? Stupid! Stupid!" He whirled back around, kicking violently at the air, before sinking down to the floor with his head in his hand. Taking advantage of this, Hermione quietly snuck out of the room, her heart thumping in her chest.

She raced up the staircases to Gryffindor Tower, her bruised chest burning, trying to put as much distance between her and what she'd just witnessed as possible. She felt very uncomfortable, and frankly _distressed_ about the whole situation. And strangely, she felt…_angry_. Angry at _Harry_. Angry at him for being so stupid! Angry at him for being so selfish! Angry at him for running off and leaving _her_ to deal with Umbridge and the DA and hormonal teenagers and bruised ribs and for making her wonder if he was alive or dead!

She sat down on one of the stairs as the staircase shifted into another direction. Why did she have to be the one to keep things together? Because she was smart? Because she was friends with Harry? She sighed, massaging her bruise. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, she wished she'd never gotten her Hogwarts letter. Sometimes she'd imagine what life would be like if she'd never known about magic or Hogwarts or the War with You-Know-Who.

She'd probably be able to spend more time with her parents, something that hardly ever seemed to happen nowadays. Sometime she felt like she and her parents were living in two completely separate worlds, seeing each other only thru some kind of invisible barrier, invisible, but there none the less.

She bit her lip, remembering how disappointed her parents had been when she'd told them she'd have to cut their skiing trip short. She bit harder when she remembered how she'd lied to them about why she was cutting it short. Studying for exams they could understand, spending the holidays in the secret headquarters of an organization dedicated to fighting the most evil man of the century…that was different…

Lying came easy to her now. "I'm fine mum, I'm making loads of friends…" _It's no wonder she doesn't have any friends!_ "Why didn't I write you for so long? Oh you know, busy busy busy!

_The poorchild's been petrified!_ "Welts? Oh! My book bag's been digging into my arm! I'll have to be more careful!" _Going up against the Whomping Willow! Honestly Miss Granger! _"School? Oh, it's…great…never better…" _Remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory._

She had never lied to her parents before coming to Hogwarts. They had once been so close, she remembered spending summer afternoons taking care of the yard with her father, or spending a day at the city library with her mother, pouring over wonderful old books like The Little Princess, or Narnia, or the Hobbit. She smiled, remembering how amazed her parents had been when she'd finished that last one in one day!

Then she frowned, somehow…those books had seemed more special back then, back before she knew how magic worked, that it had limitations and rules… back when she could actually talk to her parents about her life, and have them understand…Oh, how she sometimes wished she had never played with the fish tank in her parents office that day! How she sometimes wanted to go back and stop herself from changing the fishes colors, stop herself from doing that one bit of magic that had summoned the Hogwarts official to their London flat with her letter… But there was no going back now. Her Time turner was gone, and, despite what regrets she may have, she'd had some pretty amazing times at Hogwarts, and she'd never wish to give up Harry or Ron… still…

The staircase thudded into place. Hermione sighed, winced, and got up. There was work to do; she had homework to write, and lessons to plan. She had to decide when she was going to talk to Dumbledore again about the progress on Harry. Whether she liked it or not, this was her life, and the responsibilities that came with it were also hers…well…at least she had Ron. She laughed quietly to herself, and brushed away the tear that was falling slowly down her cheek.

**Wow! This chapter went in a completely different direction then I thought it would! But you know, I'm kinda of happy it turned out like it did. I don't think there's enough focus on the impact the Wizarding World has had on Hermione and her Parents. I know that if my world suddenly turned inside out in the space of one day, I'd want to go back and change it sometimes, no matter how amazing my new life was…maybe… anyway, hope you liked! I don't own any of the books I mentioned, (not even the nonexistent alibi ones) and Please Review! I do this all for you guys! Well, have a great night, or day, or whatever, wherever you are, and thank you so much for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7 : Feelings

**Hello everybody! thank you again for all the reviews! I hope you're all well and not fighting off an impending sore throat like I am. As always, I don't own Harry Potter, that honor goes to Jo. (Also, I'd like to apologize in advance to any Reggies or Dorcas that may read this, you'll see what I mean. The opinions of the characters don't necessarily reflect the opinions of the Author!)**

" Are you sure this is a good idea?" "Oh don't be such a worry-wart _Harold_, it's midnight, no ones going to see us, besides, after the run in with that truant officer today, we deserve a break." Lillie's hair flew out behind her like a scarlet banner as she swung upwards, the moonlight illuminating her smiling face. Harry winced at the creaking of the swing set as she came back down. "I'm not being a worry-wart _Lillian_, I just don't think it's a good idea to be so out in the open! And will you keep it _down_?" Lillie rolled her eyes as she ascended again. "_Keep it down_, honestly, are you fifteen or fifty? We've covered a lot of ground in the past few days, by morning we'll be at my place. Take a break Potter! Just because we're on the run for our lives doesn't mean we can't enjoy them!" She flashed him a cocky smile as she sailed backwards, red hair framing her face, her green eyes sparkling.

Harry rolled his eyes, sighed, and caught hold of the chain of her swing as she came back down, hoisting himself up so he was standing on the edges of her seat. Lillie shrieked quietly with surprise and glee as the two soared upward. "You are really something, you know that Blake?" "_I know you are but what am I_, and what's with the Blake?" "You called me Potter." "Only because you were being pig-headed." "Oh, and what are you being?" "Charmingly obstinate." Harry snorted, "Try acutely annoying." Lillie stuck out her tongue at him, and he grinned.

For a while they just swung quietly, back and forth, Lillie sitting , Harry standing, looking up into the night sky. Lillie finally broke the silence by saying, "So, are you gonna make me do all the work? Or are you gonna give me a chance to stand up while you pump?" Harry shrugged, and then jumped to the ground, circling around to get behind her. "Here, you slow down, and I'll push you, how's that?" Lillie pursed her lips exaggeratedly, thinking. "That would be acceptable" she dug her feet into the sand below to stop her momentum, then turned around and said, pointing a finger at him, "But don't you _dare_ try to run under me, ok? My dad did that once and it scared me to death!" "I promise, I promise." Lillie positioned herself on the swing, and Harry began pulling the seat back. When he reached a good height, he let go, watching Lillie sail out in front of him, kicking her legs up as she went. She swung back, and Harry pushed her, sending her forward again.

"You and your dad did a lot together, huh?" Lillie nodded, looking out into the darkness surrounding the playground. "Yeah... he's the only family I've got, Mum died when I was a baby, and Dad doesn't like to talk about her. He used to play Quidditch before she died, apparently he was pretty good too, but now he's always working on some new spell formula or magical theory or some other sciencey type thing I nod at and pretend to understand when he goes on about it. He's always busy writing letters and essays and stuff, I think he's even written a book about "The theory of substantial illusions" or something like that. He's always made time for me though, anytime I needed him, he was there, even if it was for something as stupid as me wanting a new pair of trainers...Oh, I hope he's ok..."

Harry couldn't think of anythign to say to this. He had never known his father, had never had the chance to know if he would have been the kind of dad who'd drop everything if he needed shoes. All he knew about him was that he resembled him almost to a T, that he'd gone to Hogwarts, and played-Quidditch? Harry's mind suddenly began racing. Lillie's dad had gone to Hogwarts when his dad had, Lillie's dad had played Quidditch- "Lil, w-what position did your dad play?" "Um, Seeker, I think...why?" Harry was to preoccupied with his thoughts to answer, he even missed a beat pushing Lillie. Seeker! Her father had played Seeker! His thoughts whirled wildly, Lillie had the same eyes as him, her name was almost the same as his mothers, could she possibly be his-

No, no, this was crazy! How could James be alive? Hadn't he heard Voldemort kill him when he passed out in his third year? Besides, if he was alive, why hadn't he come for him? Why would he leave him to grow up with the Dursleys? And then there was Lillie, certainly someone would have told him if he had a _twin sister_, wouldn't' they? Then again, Dumbledore had been so strange and secretive this year... Harry had never doubted Dumbledore before, but his recent behavior made him wonder...But still, what possible reason would there be to conceal the existence of his father and sister from him ? **Maybe James asked Dumbledore not to tell you**. Oh yeah, and why would he do that? **Maybe he blames you**... came the treacherous thought. Harry's insides turned to ice. Blamed him? Blamed him for what? **For Lily's death, didn't Voldemort kill her to get to you? didn't he tell her to stand aside, and only killed her when she wouldn't? Maybe he only injured James, maybe he got Lillie away, after he found out what had happened. If Lily only died because of you, why wouldn't he leave you at the Dursleys? **Harry felt sick, and it must have showed, because Lillie had stopped swinging, and was twisting around to look at him with concern on her face.

"Harry...what's wrong?" He couldn't breath, he had to get control, he tried to calm himself, tried to slow down his rapidly beating heart before asking something he couldn't believe he hadn't asked before, "Lil...what's your dad's name?" He couldn't stop his voice from cracking. "It's...Reggie..." she said slowly, eyeing Harry up and down. "Are you ok?" "Yeah, yeah I'm fine..." Reggie? What kind of name was Reggie? An alias maybe? He could tell Lillie was getting worried about him, but he didn't want to tell her his suspicions. Suddenly, like a flash, it came to him, a surefire way to tell if his theory was right or wrong. "And...what was your mother's name?" "...Dorcas, that's my middle name." Harry let out a deep breath, he was wrong then. If James really was alive, really blamed him for the death of his beloved wife, really loved her so much he would abandon their son, there was no way he would lie to his daughter about her mother's name. James was dead, he didn't blame Harry, and Lillie...Lillie wasn't his sister... he didn't know why that thought made him so sad...and her eyes...that was just a coincidence...wasn't it?

"Do-do you want to see a picture of him?" "What?" Harry asked, coming out of his thoughts. "My dad, I-I've got a picture in my rucksack, if you want to see..." Lillie trailed off quietly, obviously he really had her worried with his sudden silence and odd questions. He smiled to reassure her. "Sure, that'd be great." She nodded, looked at him quizzically, and began rummaging around in her rucksack, which she had placed by the leg of the swing set.

"Hmmm, I know it's in here some...Ah! Here we are!" She pulled out a small framed photograph, and Harry knelt down next to her to get a better look. The moving image showed Lillie, a few years younger then she was now, grinning and waving up at him. She was wearing the blue uniform and hat of Beauxbatons, and her hair was pulled back away from her face by a pair of barrettes. Next to her, placing one hand on her shoulder, and waving leisurely with the other one, stood her father. He was a tall, good looking man. His dark hair came down below his chin, but didn't touch his shoulders. He was wearing a green sweater vest with a white collared shirt beneath, and dark slacks. His face was narrow and handsome, with dark eyes that reminded Harry of Sirius's, and a small smile that spoke more of being reserved and serious (and rather sad), then of being haughty. Overall, he seemed like the kind of person who preferred to read a good book and spend time at home with his daughter, not like the rambunctious, carefree person he'd heard Sirius and Lupin describe _his_ father as.

"He looks nice." "He's the best..." Lillie said softly, and when Harry looked over, there were tears running down her cheeks. "Oh Lil..." He said, reaching over and putting an arm around her. "We'll find him, I promise...don't cry." "It's your fault." She sniffed, "You must just be a natural tear-inducerer." "_Tear inducerer_?" "Oh you think of a better word!" She wiped at her eyes, and rested her head against his shoulder. She still looked so crestfallen that Harry felt overwhelmed with sympathy. Without even thinking about it, he kissed her softly on the top of her head. Surprised, Lillie looked up at him.

"Well! That's a little forward, don't you think?" Harry blushed crimson, and began sputtering, "I-I'm sorry! you're right, I should never have-" "Harry?" Lillie interrupted, "Y-yes" "You're sweet." And she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. Harry blushed burgundy. "Wow, I didn't think someone's face could go that color." Lillie said bemusedly. "Ah shut up." Lillie laughed, then suddenly became serious. "Harry?" "Hmm?" "What-What are you're exact feelings for me?" As it was impossible for Harry to blush deeper, he swallowed. "I-I don't know... What about you?" "I-I don't know either..."

They sat there, awkwardly, each hoping the other one would break the silence first, and each terrified of what would happen when they did. " I...i feel, happy, being around you..." Lillie said finally, "More Happy then I've felt in ages... But... I don't think I...love you, at least, not like a woman loves a man... it' s funny, but, being around you I feel like something in me that was missing isn't missing anymore, even though I didn't know it was missing to begin with...Augh! Is this making any sense to you?" "Yeah..." Harry said quietly "It does. I-I feel the same about you..." "You do?" "Yeah...but it's not love, at least, not boyfriend girlfriend love, I've felt that, sort of." "Really?" Lillie asked interestedly, "What was it like?" "Wet" He replied without thinking. Lillie's eyebrows shot up. "Wet? The definition you give to one of the greatest emotions two people can share is _wet_?" "When I kissed her I mean." Her eyebrows went up farther. "Because she was crying!" He finished desperately. "Wow...you really are a natural tear-inducerer!" "Oh forget it!" Harry began to stand up, but Lillie reached out and caught his arm. "Wait. We need to figure this out, before we do anything else. When you think of me, what do you think of ?"

Looking down at her, staring into those green eyes so much like his, Harry thought of all they'd gone through together over the past three weeks. All the troubles they'd been through, all the narrow escapes they'd had, all the laughs and the tears and the petty arguments they'd shared. He thought of her willingness to accept him and help him without expecting anything in return, and how he'd done the same for her. He thought of all this...and he knew what he thought of when he thought of Lillie

"Family..." He said softly. "I think of you as family." Lillie smiled. "That's what I think of too..."

**Well, there you go! Sorry this chapters so short, I'll try to have a longer one next time when they reach Lillie's House (Important stuff's going to happen!) I guess you're wondering where this is gonna go since Harry and Lillie don't feel all mushy over each other, all I can say is that...you'll have to keep reading! Thanks again for everyone who's sent me Favorites! Please, tell me what you think, until next time! **


	8. Chapter 8 : Lillie's House

**Hey everyone, thank you sooo much for your wonderful reviews! And thank you Ash for pointing that out to me, I'll try to space my sentences better. I own nothing of Harry Potter, not even Sirius sob oh well, off we go then…**

Harry eyed the surrounding area from the bushes he and Lillie were hiding in. He was still tired from the dreams he'd been having, only last night had he realized the corridor he's been traveling had been the one he'd seen leading to the Dept. of Mysteries. He hadn't yet had time to tell this to Lillie, and right now didn't seem like the best time either. The house and surrounding yard he was surveying looked deserted; the nearest neighbor was some ways away, still…

"Well Commander, is the fortress secure?" Lillie whispered melodramatically. "It doesn't hurt to be cautious Lil." Lillie stifled a laugh.

"Cautious? _You_? The boy who, according to _yourself_, probably broke more Hogwarts rules in his first year than most students do over their whole school experience? Yeah, pardon me if I die laughing. Now will you come on? I don't know about you, but I'm dying to give my hair a proper wash. Public fountains do just _not_ cut it. And besides, it is _my _house."

And with that, she shot out of the bushes and across the yard to the back door before Harry could so much as tell her to keep her voice down. "Ugh, what is it with women and their hair?" Sighing, he took one last look around, and followed her.

It took Lillie a few seconds to locate the key in her rucksack, but finally she pulled it out, and turned it in the lock, which opened with a satisfying 'click'. She pushed the door open, and the two found themselves staring into a dark back hallway. Sunlight streaming from a window somewhere at the front of the house illuminated a kitchen at the end of the hall, with a stair case on the side. Even from here, Harry could see things were starting to really need a good dusting.

"Oh wow…" Lillie said softly, "It's good to be home…"

Soon afterwards, Harry was having a look around while Lillie took a shower upstairs. She had been afraid that the water might have been shut off after the house being vacant for a month, but miraculously, everything still seemed to be in working order.

Harry's eyes roamed around the house, taking it in. It was a nice house, a little bigger than the Dursley's, and tastefully furnished. Lillie's father might not have been rich, but he was well off, Harry noticed a vase he was sure he'd seen Aunt Petunia coveting on one of her many shopping trips he'd had to endure over the years.

Though the house was definitely stylish, it still had a homey feel to it, much like the Barrow, only…less crowded. Everywhere there were pictures of Lillie. Her father holding Baby Lillie, Toddler Lillie jumping into a pile of leaves her father had just finished racking. A young Lillie sitting in the very armchair the picture was hung by, reading and enormous book called _The Tales of Beedle the Bard, _her young face illuminated by the lamp standing next to her.

Harry found it odd that there were so many pictures of Lillie, and so few of her father, but then, he supposed her father must have been the one taking the pictures. There was one thing he couldn't figure out though… "Hey, Lil?" He called up the stairs. "Yeah?" Lillie's voice called down to him, muffled by the bathroom door. "How come there aren't any pictures of your Mum?"

The door to the bathroom opened, and Lillie stepped out onto the landing above him. She had changed into new clothes, and was drying her dripping red hair with a towel. " Oh man you have no idea how good that felt, but anyway, I told you, she died when I was a baby." "Well yeah, but…you'd think you'd at least have a couple of pictures of her, a wedding picture, or something." Lillie shook her head, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. Harry had to step back to avoid being hit by the water that flew off. "Dad said that after she died he took all the pictures down, he said it made him too sad to look her being alive when she wasn't."

Harry pondered this. Growing up he would have loved to have some pictures of his parents, he would have found it comforting. But then, he had never been married, maybe it was different for a husband then it was for a son. "There is one picture of her though, come on up, I'll show you."

Lillie led Harry to a door at the end of the hall. "This is my room." She said as she opened the door. It was a nice room; she had a large comfortable looking bed with a white comforter and a blue canopy. Stuffed animals covered the pillows,(including a large possum that seemed to occupy a place of honor). Her walls were covered with pictures of her father and France, and a large poster for the all-female French National Quidditch Team. "You're patriotic, aren't you?"

Harry teased.

Lillie stuck out her tongue, and opened a drawer in the large white vanity by her window.( Harry noticed the mirror was decorated with gilded lilies.) "Let's see, I know I had it somewhe- Ah! Here it is!"

She handed a small frame out to him, which he took. The picture was black and white and looked a little like a Muggle yearbook photo, except of course it was moving. A pretty young woman with a short bob of hair smiled up at him. She looked to be about nineteen years old, her face was peaceful and happy; and her eyes seemed to sparkle. Harry wondered if she had the same eyes as he and Lillie, but of course it was impossible to see without color. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen her somewhere before…

"Hey, you know how to use a washing machine?" "Huh?" Harry asked, coming out of his thoughts. "A washing machine. Daddy bought one years ago, to keep up appearances with the Muggles you know. But we've never had to use it before, but I figured as we can't use magic I may as well take advantage of it before we head off again." Harry frowned to himself, remembering just how much the Dursley's had made him 'take advantage' of their laundry. "Yeah, I know how to use one." "Great!" Lillie said with a smile, and picking up her rucksack, headed down to the laundry room.

"Ok" Harry began once they'd reached the laundry room. "First you need to put in the clothes, then it looks like with this model you add a detergent packet here, and then you pick a setting, and turn on the water." Lillie starred at him.

"Muggles go thru all that just to get their clothes clean?"

"Yep." "You poor boy." She leaned in to get a closer look at the dials. "So, what setting should I choose?" Harry thought for a moment, "Well, I usually put the dial on the asterisk when I'm doing colors, so-" Harry turned the knob to the asterisk to get her started, and then leapt back in alarm.

The washing machine was _growing_! The clear door was expanding rapidly, the inside became large enough that a person could easily stand in it. Harry blinked in amazement as a set of stairs appeared inside the machine, leading down into somewhere he couldn't see. Finally, when the machine was as tall as a refrigerator and as wide as a bay window, the rapid growth ceased.

Dumbstruck, Harry looked over at Lillie, who looked as shocked as he did. "Do-do washing machines _usually_ do that?" she asked quietly. Harry, still too stunned to speak, simply shook his head. "Well…should we a…go in?"

Harry shifted his stunned glance to the stairs visible inside the machine, and after a few seconds, shrugged, "I-guess…" He leaned closer to the clear window, trying to get a better look at where the stairs led, and found himself falling thru the plastic!

"Whoa!" He cried as he began falling toward the stone steps. Lillie reached out and caught the back of his jacket before he could fall down completely, but the force of his tumble was great enough to pull her thru as well. She lost her footing as she tumbled thru, crashing into Harry, and sending them both down tumbling head over heels down the stairs.

"Ow" Lillie groaned when they finally reach the bottom. "Why is it" she grumbled as they struggled to untangle themselves from each other, "That I always seem to be either crying or falling around you?" "I guess I'm a natural fall inducerer too." Harry said with a pained laugh.

When they managed to get to their feet, they looked around. They appeared to be in some sort of stone bunker. A small cot was set against the wall next to them, and a large desk took up the entire back wall. Every space on the walls was covered in paper, articles, notes, some linked with strings attached to pins, many covering others. The entire wall over the desk held pictures of Lillie.

"What_ is_ this place?" "I-I think this is my dad's office…." Lillie whispered. "More like a secret laboratory…" Harry muttered to himself. Lillie walked away from him, staring at the papers on the walls. "I wonder what all this is for, I wonder if-hey!" "What?" Harry asked coming up to her. "Look! This entire section of wall is about you!"

She was right. There were various clippings of newspaper articles about him, and not just from this year, but stuff from the Tri-Wizard tournament, and even before that. Harry knew he was famous in the Wizarding World, but he had had no idea his first day at Hogwarts had made the front page of the Daily Prophet. Why would Lillie's father have all these? It was sort of…creepy.

"What do you think it means?" Lillie shrugged. "I have no clue, I didn't even know this place was down here!", She shook her head, "I've lived here all my life, and I've never once touched that stupid laundry machine…" She was looking very…troubled. She swung her gaze over to the wall with pictures of herself, and her eyes narrowed. "What is it?" Harry asked.

"Nothing…it's just…I don't remember some of these being taken…" She walked over to the desk, placing her hands on it, leaning closer to get a better look. "Like here." She said, pointing to a picture of herself doing cartwheels. She looked about thirteen, her hair was pulled into two tight plaits that whipped around as she tumbled. "I don't remember this, and I don't think I've ever worn my hair like that…" Her voice trailed off as she looked at the rest of the pictures. "I don't remember half of these…"

Harry came up next to her, talking a look for himself. It didn't do much for him though, as he didn't have Lillie's childhood memories to compare the pictures to. He turned his gaze to the desk top, which was covered in paper that didn't seem to be in any particular order. Some were scraps of newspaper, some looked to be letters from various institutes, some were even written in different languages. Mostly, the papers seemed to be personal notes, probably written by Lillie's father. He read a few, but couldn't make much sense of them

"._Have received some very interesting information from Japan, am leaning closer to a mixture of the Ka and an ikiryo. Must look up more information regarding this_."

"_Arronax has given me his article on Homunculi, very informative, though he misses some points._"

"_Attempts to replicate the result continue, thankfully, to be unsuccessful. If the Dark Lord should ever find out_-"

Just then, a large noise from above broke thru the silence of his thoughts. His and Lillie's heads snapped up at the sound. Harry looked at Lillie, pressed a finger to his lips, and quietly, slowly, they began climbing up the stairs. Voices were coming from outside the laundry room, harsh, angry voices. Harry slowly edged towards the crack in the door, and looked out.

His heart lept to his throat. "_Death Eaters_." He whispered. Behind him, Lillie gasped, quickly covering her mouth to hid the noise. "What are they doing back here?" "Probably the same thing we are, looking for clues they missed." "Well we sure found them a great one."

Lillie got down on her knees and crawled over to him. "What do we do now?" she whispered.

"I don't know, shhh, let's listen, maybe they'll leave.…" He turned his ear to the door, trying to hear their voices better. Lillie followed his example. "I told you this was a waste of time." One of them was saying, "No one's here!" "Shut it!" the other one cut in. "The Dark Lord said to come back and find his stuff, and who are we to question him? Now, you look over there, I'll check upstairs." The first Death Eater sighed, and to Harry's horror, turned in their direction!

"Lil!" He whispered fiercely, knowing at best they had only a few minutes before the Death discovered them "Get back down the stairs! I'll switch the machine back and try to hold them off!" "Are you crazy?" she whispered back, "I'm not leaving you here by yourself, besides I-" "Just do it!" Harry demanded.

Lillie seemed determined to stay, when suddenly, her eyes light up, and a large grin spread across her face. "What?" Harry asked, confused at this sudden mood change. Lillie pointed to something over his head. He turned around, but couldn't see anything to excited about, it was just an old broom-_A Broom_!

Harry was grinning himself now. "It'll be risky" he whispered, "We'll probably have to use magic to make sure we get out of here." "Well better the Ministry finds us latter then get captured by You-Know-Who now." Replied Lillie. "Let's go."

Harry grabbed the broom, and settled himself on it. Thru the crack he could see the Death Eater had finished his inspection of the outer room, and was now striding towards their door. Lillie swung her rucksack onto her shoulders and sat down behind Harry, wrapping her arms around his waist. "One three Fly Boy, one..." "Two…." ….."Three!" they yelled together.

Harry's hands clenched the broom as it shot out the door. He wasn't sure what hit the Death Eater first, the broom handle or Lillie's Stunning Spell, but he was knocked to the floor before he could so much as cry out.

The broom sped down the hall, turning a sharp right at the door that led to the kitchen. The Death Eater upstairs must have finished his rounds, because he did have enough time to cry out before he too was out cold, tumbling down the stairs.

Lillie shot another spell at front door, blasting it off its hinges. They sailed thru, knocking another Death Eater standing guard to the ground as they did, and soared up into the bright blue sky!

Some distance away, a large black dog looked up from his newly stolen lunch, just in time to see a young dark haired boy and red haired girl on a broomstick a mile in the air soar over him. The chicken sandwich fell from his mouth. You'd be surprised how well a dog can look completely shocked, (especially when that dog happens to be an escaped wizarding criminal and very concerned godfather).

If Sirius had had hands at the time, he would have rubbed his eyes with them to make sure he wasn't seeing things. His head followed the duo as they soared over him, gaining altitude with every second. The girl let out a whoop of glee, and his mouth fell open wider.

"No way" He thought, "No, He did not just-Harry is not—and with —she—she looked-I gotta lie down!" (Which is precisely what he did, though_ fainting_ might have been a more appropriate term.)

Meanwhile, Harry and Lillie were laughing hysterically. "Did you see his face when we bowled into him like that?" "I know! And the other one on the stairs!" Harry was laughing so hard he couldn't distinguish Lillie's shaking from his own. "Oh boy I wish we'd got a picture of that!"

He shook his head, smiling at the memory, when suddenly, his scar exploded with pain. He cried out, reaching up to grab at it. "Harry!" Lillie exclaimed, "Are you ok?"

He was in too much pain to answer. His vision was darkening; he was beginning to hear things, voices from nowhere… He felt weak, his grip on the broom handle loosened, and the last thing he was aware of before losing consciousness completely, was a of himself sliding of the broom, and Lillie's horrified scream of "HARRY!"

**CLIFFHANGER! BUM BUM BUM! Well, there you go, chapter 8! I hope you enjoyed it! I'll try not to keep you all waiting to long, but with finals coming up, it's touch and go. But don't worry! We'll find out what happens to our favorite hero soon enough, as well as hearing from Sirius's lovely ex-fiancé again! Until then! And please, feel free to review and tell me what you think. First one to do so wins a lily flower pin! (not really, but…you get the reference).**


	9. Chapter 9 : Nightmare in the Air

**Hey gang! Well, here's the rest of it, like I promised! Hope I didn't keep you **_**hanging**_** to long (hanging-see what I did there?) Anywho, I don't own Harry Potter, and if parts of the chapter below remind you of currently existing passages from our favorite wizarding work, well…they're supposed to. Please, read on!**

Wind whipped and buffeted Harry's limp form has he plummeted towards the earth. Lillie had taken control of the broomstick, and was urging it downward, trying desperately to reach him before he could hit the ground.

Harry was aware of none of this. His eyes were not seeing the earth rushing up to meet him, and his ears could not hear the desperate screams of the red haired girl trying to save his life. His mind was many miles away, in a dark curtained room, lit only by candlelight.

Harry's hands were clasped tightly to the back of a chair situated in front of him. They were long and white, like pale spiders deprived of the sunlight for many years. A man in dark robes was kneeling in a pool of candlelight in front of the chair. Harry addressed the man with a high, cold, and angry voice, "I have been badly advised it seems."

"My lord, I crave your pardon," the kneeling man croaked, he appeared to be trembling. "I do not blame you Rookwood, but Bode's failure to remove it makes gaining our guest's cooperation more imperative than ever." Harry released the chair, walking around it to stand closer to Rookwood, who remained on the floor, cowering in fear.

"Stand up Rookwood. You have done well in telling me the folly of Avery's plan. I have wasted months on fruitless schemes, I do not desire to waste more."

Rookwood had scrambled up now, and Harry could see his pockmarked, scarred face illuminated by the candles. He remained stooped, as though bowing, and continued to cast terrified looks up at Harry. "My lord?"

"We will begin again. New strategies must be applied, for now, half of our focus must turn towards gaining the girl. If she is traveling with Potter, so much the better, but our main objective remains in place. It will be no good having the ability to kill two birds with one stone if one may yet rise again unscathed…"

Harry turned away from the man, his hands clasped behind his back. Finally he spoke again " You have Lord Voldemort's gratitude Rookwood." Harry could hear the man's sigh of relief. "Y-yes my lord, thank you my lord."

"I shall need your help in gaining the information from the traitor. How long until Nott and the others return from his home?" "They-they should be returning any moment now, my lord." Harry nodded, "Very well, let us hope he has not sent us on a wild goose chase. He held out longer than most men under the Cruciatus Curse; he could very well have lied about his papers. His shields are strong, much stronger than I anticipated. But then, he has had more than fourteen years to prepare…You may go Rookwood, send Avery into me."

"Of course, my lord, of course…" Rookwood scurried hastily out of the room, bowing as he went. Harry was left alone in eh dark room. He turned towards a wall, were a cracked and dirty mirror hung. As he moved towards it, his face came into view, a face whiter than a skull, red eyes with slits for pupils…

"AAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!"

Harry snapped back into consciousness, whether it was from the abrupt stop of his momentum, or the scream that directly followed it, he wasn't sure. He was still trying to recover from what he'd seen and heard, he was gasping for air. It took him a few seconds to realize he was dangling from his shirt collar over a mile above a large field. He blinked rapidly a few times in shock, and then looked up. "LILLIE!"

Lillie was clutching the collar of his shirt with one hand, while hanging for dear life to the broom with the other. The rest of her body was hanging from the broom. Her hand and one foot wrapped around the handle were all the prevented them from plummeting to their deaths. Had the situation not been so precarious, and her face clearing showing she was in obvious pain, Harry would have been tempted to complement her on her excellent use of the Starfish and Stick maneuver.

"Don't you DARE move!" She hissed at him thru gritted teeth. "I'm going to try and land this thing without killing us!" She tightened her lips, and pulled down gently on the broom handle. The broom began to descent, and within a few minutes Harry's feet could touch the ground. The minute he could stand Lillie released her hold on his shirt, and let go of the broom,(which sailed off into the sky) and collapsed into Harry's outstretched arms.

"Are you ok?" He asked, gently setting her to the ground. The arm that had been holding the broom was clasped protectively around the one that had prevented his untimely demise. She clenched her teeth, and shook her head. "I think I dislocated my shoulder." She looked at him, glaring. "What was that about anyway?"

Harry quickly told her what he'd witnessed, trying to remember everything. He wished he could remember some spell to help ease Lillie's pain, but that had always been Hermione's strong point, not his.

"So they'll be looking for us now, if they weren't already…Oh Lil I'm so sorry I got you into-" Lillie waved off his apology with her good arm. "Forget it, sounds like they were after me anyway, I told you there were…I wonder what the other thing they're after is…?"

Harry shrugged, then suddenly stopped. An idea had just entered his head, one so obvious he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. "I-I think it has something to do with the Department of Mysteries…" Lillie looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

He told her about seeing the Department on the way to his hearing, and about the strange dreams he'd been having about it, about how he seemed to be looking for something. "I- I think I might have a – a connection into Vol-er, You Know Who's thoughts…" He said quietly, "I've been able to feel his emotions before, now I'm seeing inside his head…" The thought sent chills running thru him, but he continued. "Whatever he's looking for, besides us, must be in the Department of Mysteries, and I'm dreaming about it…"

He looked over at Lillie, wondering what she'd say to this. It had been one thing when he'd believed he might be being controlled by Voldemort, but they'd gone so far without anything happening, and now this…would she really still want to stay with him?

Lillie did looked a little shocked, but she reached out and touched Harry's arm sympathetically. "That…can't be fun…" Despite his fear, Harry laughed at what had to been the biggest understatement of the year. "No, not really…" He looked at her shoulder, which was sticking out in a sickening way. "Hey, we better try to find someone who can fix that, come on." He lifted her up, making sure he didn't touch her shoulder.

As they walked on towards what appeared to be a town in the distance, Harry heard Lillie whisper something to herself. "What was that?" "Y-you said that they were torturing someone…do you think it was my father?" Harry thought for a moment, from what he'd heard, it certainly sounded like her father. "…Yes…"

Lillie sighed, whether with pain, or grief, or both, he couldn't tell. They walked a little farther, when suddenly, Lillie stopped. A strange look had crossed her face. "What?" he asked. "Harry, you said…they called him…a traitor…" She turned to look at him, a fearful, questioning look in her green eyes. "Don't you-sort of…have to be one the _same side _as someone…to betray them?"

**Well, there you are. I had originally planned to have Amy and the gang show up in this chapter, but it's late, and I'm tired, and I have finals to study for. Sooo, there you go! Thank you everyone who viewed and reviewed the last chapter! Please feel free to tell me what you think of this one! Till next time, as Lillie would say (bi-lingual little wunderkind) Au revoir!**


	10. Chapter 10 : Meetings

**Chapter 10! Back to Amy for now, but don't worry, I'll fix up Lillie's arm sooner or later. As always, I don't own anything.**

"Ford, we have been walking in circles for hours! Why don't you just admit the spell didn't work?" "Because it did!" Amy sighed in frustration at her cousins reply, and sat down on a nearby bench to rest her aching feet.

They had followed Ford's trace spell to this town hours ago, and so far had neither seen or heard anything of Sirius Black.( It had been the same way for the past _three_ towns over the past few days.) Amy was beginning to feel definite doubts about the whole thing, and she could tell Remus was as well. "Maybe you should try again?" He suggested kindly, as Ford continued to pace back and forth, holding his wand out and muttering as it's light flickered on and off. "Or better yet put that thing away before the Muggles notice and you get us all in big trouble!" Grumbled Amy.

Ford ignored her, and addressed Remus's comment. "I would, but by now the spell residue from the cup is too old. We'd need to find a new source to trace from for the charm to work." "I suppose I could always ask Tonks to break something else." Amy heard Remus mumble under his breath.

After a few more minutes of pacing, Ford sighed in defeat. "I guess I still have some kinks to work out of the-" at that moment, the tip of his wand flared to life, and Ford could fell the Trace physically dragging him to the location of the spell. "Hey!" He called out as he began racing along down the street, following the pull of his wand. Remus and Amy leapt up and tried to keep up with his fleeing form as he ran right and left thru the streets.

"You don't think it's actually _working_? _Do_ you?" Amy called out to Remus as they chased Ford down a back alley. He shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe it just took some time for the spell to—" He gestured wildly to the air, trying to think of a word. "Get his scent?" Amy offered, panting as they rounded a corner. Remus shrugged again, "Yeah, sure. You know, I-"

But whatever he was about to say was cut short as Remus and Amy smacked into the back of a now motionless Ford, sending them all to the ground. "Oww…" Amy groaned as she sat up. "Why'd you stop?" Ford pointed up at the white door in front of him. "We're here…"

The trio stood up, facing the door. Ford had a strange frown on his face as he contemplated it. "What?" Remus asked when he saw it. "Well, it's just that…well I know the person who lives here. And I really doubt _he'd_ be harboring Sirius Black…"

"Why, is it someone from the Ministry?" Amy asked in surprise, she wasn't aware that Ford knew many people _period_. He'd always been sort of an…outsider. His uncanny knack for noticing every small detail, combined with his small capacity for tact had left him with few friends outside of herself, Bob Ogden (now deceased) and…Oh _no_. Not one of _them!_

Amy's worst fears were confirmed when Ford proceeded to wrap on the door with an elaborate knock. The door promptly opened to reveal a blond man about the same age as Ford, wearing a t-shirt with the words "_I regret that I have but one life to give for Gondor_" emblazend on the front. He looked surprised to see them, especially Ford, and when he caught sight of him he straightened up immediately.

"Sir Aladfar!" he exclaimed, shooting Ford a salute. "Hail! Hast the Court been called into session?" Ford raised his hand in a half salute, and offered a "Hail" of his own, followed by a nonchalant "Hey Chris, no the Court's not in session. Can we come in? It's kinda important."

The man, Chris's face fell, and resumed his slouching posture. "Yeah, I guess" he said with an exasperated sigh. He held open the door for them to walk thru. As Ford passed him, he frowned and muttered, "You're not supposed to use the knock unless the Court's been called into session, you made me look like an _idiot _out there!" "You mean more than usual?" Ford quipped back, dogging a halfhearted blow at his head.

"Har Har. How you ever made it past squire with your lack of respect I'll never know." "I get by on my charm and good looks of course." Ford replied good naturedly.

Remus shot a questioning look at Amy, who was holding her head in her hand. "What on earth are they talking about?" Amy sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Ford and his…_friend_ here are members of a club called the Knights of Selene. They call each other Sir star name something or other, talk in Old English and meet every full moon to chat about fairy tales and Muggle appliances."

Remus noticed that Ford and Chris were now glaring at Amy. "It's not a club! It's an ancient society dedicated to protecting the magical balance of power in the World!" "And finding out how to get a TV to work around magic." Amy added. Ford rolled his eyes, and turned back to his friend. "Don't mind the _civilians_ Sir Altair, they are sadly ignorant to the wonders of modern cinema."

Chris shot Amy another cross look, before turning back to Ford. "So you said this was important?" "Yes, you know that modified tracing spell I told you guys about last time?" "The one that blew up your-" "Yes that one!" Ford interrupted before Chris could finish announcing what had been blown up. "Anyway, I used it to try and track down Sirius Black, and we followed it here. You haven't seen anything…_ weird_ lately, have you?"

"Well yeah!" Chris burst out! "Just yesterday this big old dog knocked me down and stole my lunch! Then there was this big to-do about some kids on a broomstick,( who knows what _they_ were thinking! and then the _same_ dog knocked me over again when it was being chased by a dog catcher before it disappeared into thin air! But I don't know what that has to do about Sirius Black."

Ford, Amy and Remus stared at Chris for a long moment, before Ford's face broke into a wide grin. "Can you show us were it disappeared?"

Five minutes later, the group was standing by a large fountain in a deserted public square. "Why's it so empty?" Amy asked, noticing for the first time the quietness of the town. "Oh, apparently the Ministry in all their wisdom decided this little broom sighting would be a good chance for their new Oblivators to get some practice. Bunch of rookies gave all the Muggles splitting headaches as well as modified memories! Quietist this town's ever been, kids should start flying around more often." Chris answered promptly. "Anyway, it was right about here that the mutt disappeared. I figured he was some sort of Gytrash, so I did a quick memory charm myself on the Dogcatcher."

Ford nodded, eyeing the spot thoughtfully. He bent down, and tapped his wand on the stones, whispering an incantation. The tip of the wand light up, and Ford smiled triumphantly. "Perfect." He stood up, and motioned Amy and Remus to come near. "I think I can follow his Apperation Trail. It's a bit risky, but I think I can land us pretty near where he ended up, you in?"

Amy looked at Remus, who looked back at her, and shrugged. Amy sighed, and smiled ruthfully. "I guess so, we've made it this far." .Ford nodded, and took her left hand, Amy did the same to Remus's.

"Thanks for everything Chris!" Ford said, saluting his friend with his free hand. " Never could have done it without you, or specifically, the magical residue left on you by the transfer of-" "Ford!" Amy cut in before he could go off an a long and overelaborate explanation. "Right, well, see ya around Altair!"

"You're not supposed to use the names unless Courts in session either!" Chris called out. But by then, they were already gone.

The trio found themselves standing in the middle of a large deserted room, dusty and derelict. Noise from outside told them they must be in now be in a city. Amy released Ford's hand, and looked around the room. "What is this place?"

"Looks like an abandoned warehouse." Remus said as he eyed the place. "Why would he come here?" "He might be using it as some sort of base camp. A place to hide out when the heat is on." Ford replied, slipping into his official MLES tone.

"Well the heat must be off, because he doesn't look like he's at home." Amy said quietly. Secretly, she was glad. The thought of seeing Sirius again, so soon, after so long sent chills up her spin, and they weren't just chills of fear, and that worried her. She shook her head, pushing down her feelings. She had to focus on the real reason they were doing this. To find Harry, to keep him safe. If all went well, she might not even need to confront Sirius at all. They could follow his trail until they caught sight of Harry themselves, and then- and then what?

She considered what would happen after they found him. What could she do after that? She had never married Sirius, so she had no real claim on the boy as a Godmother. She knew Harry was currently living with Lily's sister's family, but from what she'd heard of them from Lily…

Amy sighed, so much had happened since Lily and James death. She had lost her fiancé, her godson, and most of her Hogwarts friends were no longer in contact with her. They were all so busy with their own lives. She had become an Unspeakable in the hope that the mystique of the Department might fill the void she felt in her life, but…

"Well, what now?" Remus asked, turning to Ford. The inspector shrugged in reply. "I don't know, we could try the Trace again, or we could wait until he comes b-"

But Ford never got to finish his sentence, because just then, a _huge black dog_ burst from the shadows, leaping up and onto Ford. Amy screamed as the animal knocked her cousin to the floor, snarling menacingly, large white teeth bared.

Amy, frozen in fear, shot a glance at Remus, who seemed to be in shock. Her eyes shot back to the dog, which had raised its head, preparing to strike. Ford eyes were wide, he looked like the fall had knocked to wind out of him, and his wand had rolled out of his hand and across the floor.

The dog gave a terrifying growl. His head shot down towards Ford's throat! Without thinking, without even meaning to, Amy screamed out "SIRIUS! NO!"

The dog stopped within seconds of striking Ford. His large dark eyes shot up, wide with surprise. Suddenly, he gave a shake that traveled from his head to his tail. In a moment, a ragged man with shoulder length dark hair was kneeling over Ford, his dark eyes still locked with Amy's blue ones.

"A-Amy?" He croaked. Amy looked from Remus, to Ford, and back to Sirius. Her throat was tight, and dry. She swallowed, trying to say something,_ anything_! She wanted to say, "Yes, you idiot!" or "Yep, now kindly _get off_ my cousin you _creep_!" or "Well duh! You've only known me for _two_ decades!"

Instead, what came out was "Yeah, hi honey…"

**Well well well! The loving couple meets up again! Sparks are going to fly soon though, despite Amy's pleasant greeting. And what will Ford and Remus's reactions be? Tune in next time to find out! Oh, and just to let you know, a Gytrash is a large spectral dog of Scottish legend, similar to a Grim. Thank you for reading! Please feel free to review!**


	11. Chapter 11 : Squish and Shout

**Here we are again folks! There'll be another round of Catch that Quote if any of you remember the last time. Feel free to voice your guesses as to what it's from in your reviews. As always, I own nothing.**

Sirius starred at the woman who had once been his fiancé. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again. His throat had suddenly gone very dry. Finally, he managed to croak out-

"H-how you been?"

The moment the words left his mouth he wanted to kick himself. How'd she _been_? What sort of question was _that_ to ask the woman you loved after not seeing her for over a _decade_?

Apparently Amy's thoughts agreed with his, because her face got very red, and her eyes and mouth narrowed sharply.

"How've I _been_? She seethed. "How've I been? Well let's see…" She began counting on her fingers, pacing back and forth to try and burn off some of the angry energy welling up inside her. "I've been in shock, in denial, _interrogated_, in _therapy_, _indifferent as to whether you live or die_**, infuriated that you've never **_**once**_** written to me! **_**Incised into tracking you down!**_ _**HOW DO THINK I'VE BEEN?**_"

Sirius' eyebrows shot up "Never _written_ to you? I was in_ Azkaban_! They don't exactly host a postal service there!"

"Well you haven't been in Azkaban for the past _three years_ have you?"

"I've been on the _run_! I haven't exactly had time for frivolities-"

"OH! So I'm a_ frivolity_ now?"

"No! You're just-"

"Excuse me," Ford's voice interrupted from the ground. "Not to be rude and interrupt this little lover's spat, but could you kindly **GET OFF**!" Sirius blinked in surprise, he had forgotten all about the man he'd tackled earlier. "Um, who are you again?" He asked, looking down at Ford.

"Ford Sacker, Amy's cousin." Ford answered dryly, annoyed that Sirius was still crushing his lungs with his weight. Sirius's eyes widened. "Really?" A grin began to grow on his face, "Wow, you were just a kid the last time I saw-"

"Before you begin reminiscing Sirius" a quiet voice interrupted " You should know the Ford's a member of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad duty bound to arrest you and take you back to Azkaban."

Sirius's head turned towards the interrupter. "Remus? What're you doing here?"

Remus Lupin, who had finally regained his vocal abilities, shrugged. "Honestly, I've been asking myself that for the past few days." "He's been helping us to track you down so that you can help lead us to Harry Potter." Ford answered. "Now could you please remove yourself, you're hindering my ability to breath."

Sirius ignored this, he looked at Remus with shock and hurt. "You're helping them track me down?" "To help save Harry!" Remus exclaimed, angry at Ford for associating him." And to stop you from doing anything else that could get you killed!"

"Oh, like being turned over to the Dementors is_ so_ much better than death!"

"I wasn't going to turn you over! I was planning on getting the information we needed

to find Harry and then knock Ford out and let you escape!"

"Remus!" Amy cried out in shock.

"Ok, that sounded worse then I meant it to." Remus said, beginning to sweat under the glares of both Amy and Sirius.

"Alright, at this point I'm going to begin fining you for obstructing an officer of the peace." Ford gasped out from beneath Sirius, but no one paid any attention.

"I can't believe you Remus! How could you do this to me?" Sirius shot at his soon to be ex-best friend.

"I did it because I didn't want you to keep doing stupid things like running around in plain sight!" Remus shot back.

"I do stupid things like running around in plain sight because I care about Harry!" Sirius yelled indignantly.

"Well I care too!" Cried Remus just as indignantly.

"Well why don't you say so?"

"I just did!"

"Stop yelling at each other!" Amy screamed at both of them.

For about two minutes the ware house walls reverberated with the screaming of insults and accusations as the three wizards lashed out at each other, and all the while Ford silently counted up the number of Knuts Sirius Black now owed him for continuing to stay seated on his chest. Finally, he decided this nonsense had gone on long enough. If his wand had been available, he probably would have stunned the lot of them. As it was, he made due with a

"_**WILL YOU ALL SHUT IT**_!"

If they hadn't all begun to run out of steam, they probably wouldn't have listened. But fate, and tireing vocal cords, were on Ford Sacker's side, and the screaming died down.

"Thank you. Now look, I can see that we all have…issues with Mr. Black here, heaven knows I have a few myself. But the point of finding him was to get him to help lead us to Harry so we could save him from the various Death Eaters now roaming the country, including, if I may add Black, your own cousin."

Sirius was shocked, "Bellatrix is out of Azkaban?" "She and several others of her ilk escaped several days ago. The Ministry believes you to be responsible, obviously this is not the case. Mr. Lupin, Amy and I are of the same persuasion as your godson, the Dark Lord is obviously behind the breakout, and if he's half as dangerous as they say he's probably got his best men and obviously women scouring the country to find Potter. Now as much as I'd like to see you get the justice you deserve, right now we need to focus on finding Harry before You-Know-Who does, and you can help us with that."

Ford turned his head as much as he could so that his next statement was applicable to the entire room. "So until we do find Potter, I'm declaring a Truce between all parties, agreed?"

A long silence, followed by a round of begrudged mumbling in the affirmative answered his question. Ford nodded in appreciation, and then turned his gaze back up to Sirius. "Now, Black, if you could-"

But at that point Ford's air supply finally gave out, and his words were stopped by a large guttural gasp. Alarmed by the sound, Sirius shot up off of him like a startled puppy, and Ford was able to roll onto his stomach, gasping for air.

After Amy had given him several vigorous pumps on the back, (glaring at Sirius all the while) and Remus had helped him to his feet (Ignoring Sirius's glare) Ford was able to continue his sentence. "As I was cough cough saying… Black, do you have any idea of the whereabouts of Harry Potter?"

Sirius crossed his arms, and glowered at Ford defiantly. "Why on earth should I help you? Why do you even want to find Harry anyway? The rest of the Ministry seems pretty happy that he's disappeared from what I've gathered."

"To answer you're first question" Ford said, "You should help because One: You want to find your godson, Two: You obviously haven't found him on your own, so evidently you need some assistance, assistance that we can supply. Three, and most importantly, if you refuse to help us, I'm duty bound to arrest you here and now."

Sirius looked like he wanted to say something angry, but Ford cut him off, "Let me finish. _If_, however, you chose to aid us, and I think you will, I promise on my honor as an officer of MLES and a member of the Order of Selene" (Here Amy rolled her eyes Heavenward) "That I will desist from arresting you until Mr. Potter is found and left in the safety of either Hogwarts school or his legal guardian."

"Wow," Sirius said in a sarcastic monotone " That's such a big incentive for me to help". "I'll give you a five minute head start and Portkey to Casablanca." Ford offered, "After that you're free game again."

Sirius considered the offer. True, it was really a lose-lose situation, but….he had to admit, he _did_ need help, especially if Bellatrix and her lot were now a factor. Also, as angry as he was at him right now, after what he'd seen yesterday, he desperately needed to confide what he'd seen to Remus. He'd know if Sirius were crazy or not. Truthfully, he hoped he was, at least a little bit, because at least then things would make sense. Because that girl…well, it was impossible! She couldn't be… could she?

At any rate, Remus would know, or at least be able to offer some insight…And he had to admit, he was not opposed to spending some more time with Amy, though she probably wanted to chuck him back into Azkaban herself right now. Sirius smiled in his mind, if there was one thing he was good at, it was getting Amy to stop being mad at him. If he hadn't been so skilled at this, they would have broken up long before he'd managed to propose…

Sirius pondered all this for a moment longer, and then stuck out his hand towards Ford's. "Deal." Ford grasped his hand, shaking it firmly. "Excellent." Then he pulled Sirius closer, and with a twisted smile, whispered loudly, "But don't think this means we're on equal footing, I'm in charge here Black. And I intend to keep you on a _very _short leash."

"Oh, ha _ha_." Sirius said dryly, "Did you make that up yourself? Or is it part of the Standard Training of MLES officers to be skilled in the art of cheesy case related humor?"

Amy rolled her eyes again, shooting a weary glance over at Remus. He shrugged, rolling his own eyes. This was going to be a very _long_ mission.

**Well, there you are. I'll probably do Hermione again next. This was a really fun chapter for me to write, it was nice to just be loose and funny. Well, as always, reviews are always welcome, thank you for reading and for previous reviews! Good night all!**


	12. Chapter 12 : Sacking and Spies

**Hey gang! Here's the newest chapter! You probably won't get another one until after Christmas, but I tried to get this to you as quick as I could. I hope you like it! Whoo though, this thing may get longer then I planned with all I have to fit in! Anyway, enjoy, and reviews are always welcome! Happy Holidays! As always I own nothing, especially not the passages in this chapter paraphrased from the book.**

Hermione reached out her hand to stroke Hedwig's feathers. The owl cooed contentedly, and returned to preening herself. The rest of the owls in the Owlrey were similarly occupied, preening, sleeping, and generally just being owls, having little care for the trouble brewing in the school below them.

Hermione closed her eyes, drinking in the peacefulness of the Owlrey. She had been coming up here a lot lately, she had told Ron(who was currently swamped with Quidditch practice, which personally, she thought he needed as much as he could get) that she went up to check on Hedwig, and that was partly true, but she mostly came to get away from the tumult of her life. The cooing of the owls and the view of the lake was calm and soothing, and she relished the small amount of time she was able to spend there.

Between studying for classes, planning and teaching the DA, worrying about Harry, and having to deal with various adolescent dramas, she hadn't been sleeping well; and it was beginning to show. She looked pale and peaked, her eyes were darkening, and even her hair was beginning to look limp. She had always prided herself on her ability to multitask, but her hadn't felt this spread out since her third year.

She sighed, and leapt down from her perch on the window ledge. She dusted herself off, making sure there were no owl feathers clinging to her clock or her hair, and headed down the stairs. As she reached the school proper, her heart began to beat rapidly. Prof. Dumbledore had sent her a note asking to speak to her that afternoon.

To say that she was excited would have been a gross understatement. She had never been to Dumbledore's office before, and even though she knew that it was unlikely, she still hoped that he had some news to tell her about Harry. When she reached the gargoyle, she took a few deep breaths to steady her, and spoke the password "Carmel Drops" with more waver in her voice than she liked.

She walked rapidly up the spiral staircase and into the circular office of her headmaster. She looked in awe at the rows of books, the sleeping paintings of former heads, and the curious insturments on the desk, before turning her attention to the man himself.

Dumbledore looked almost as bad as she did. He too looked like he could use a good week's worth of sleep, and his blue eyes had lost their customary twinkle. "Sit down Ms. Granger," He said in a soft voice, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. "Thank you for answering my summons."

Hermione obediently sat, and though she tried to contain herself, the question she most desperately wanted to ask burst out of its own accord. "Please sir, has-has there any word at all about…Harry?" Her eyes shown with barely concealed hope, and Dumbledore hated to dose it. "No, I'm afraid not…"

Hermione sighed, and her entire body seemed to slump. "I'm sorry Ms. Granger to have to tell you this, but… perhaps in this case, no new is good news." Hermione looked up at him questioningly. "I mean of course," he continued "That if I and the Order with all our resources have had so little luck finding him, then we may hope that Lord Voldemort and his forces have had an equally hard time. We must keep faith therefore that Harry is still alive and well, and keeping out of trouble. "

Hermione nodded, reaching up with one hand to wipe away the wetness starting to grow in her eyes. "I just wish we knew he was alright, if he Sirius had found him or not. Has there been any sign of Sirius at all?" Dumbledore shook his head, and she nodded numbly again.

Dumbledore looked Hermione over, taking in her exhausted appearance, and decided this was not the time to burden her with the knowledge that Remus had not been heard from for some time as well. He wondered what would be appropriate to speak to her about. He knew that there was some sort of covert student activity happening outside of Umbridge's heavy restrictions, but he did not know the exact nature of it, or Hermione's involvement. But if her current appearance was any indication, she obviously had a lot on her plate.

"Ms. Granger, is there anything that you'd like to speak to me about?" He asked kindly, hoping to get to the point of their meeting. Hermione looked startled, but quickly covered it up. There was no need to get Prof. Dumbledore involved in the DA, he was in enough trouble with the Ministry already without adding the chance of them getting wind he was involved with actively defying their chosen representative to the school. "No sir, nothing."

Dumbledore sighed, wondering how many times he was going to hear that phrase, and why young people always felt they had to carry these things themselves. Why hadn't Harry confided in one of his friends about his fears? Why had he decided removing himself from his sphere of safety was the best course of action? Why hadn't he listened to his message to him?

"**Well, you haven't exactly given him much incentive to listen to you, have you Albus**?" Said a quiet voice in his head. "**Not answering his questions, avoiding him all year.**"

" I did it for his own good." He answered back to himself. "**It's always for **_**somebody's**_** good**." The voice answered back, "**Question is, is it really for **_**his**_** good?**" Dumbledore didn't have an answer.

"Very well Ms. Granger," He said finally "You may go." Hermione nodded, and stood up, wondering what the point of this meeting had been.

She was turning over the contents of her next DA lesson in her head, and wondering how Ginny was getting on as Seeker and how things stood with her and Neville, when a woman's scream issued from somewhere near the entrance hall. Hermione jumped in surprise, and then ran in the direction of the sound. Eventually she reached the hall, where a sizable crowd had already gathered around some sort of spectacle in the center. She managed to push her way into a clump of Ravenclaws, and tapped one she knew on the shoulder.

"Rolf, what on earth is going on?" Rolf turned around to see who had tapped him, then pointed over the heads of the crowd, "It's Trelawney! She's being sacked!" Another scream rose from the inside of the crowd, and Hermione continued to struggle to the front. Finally she managed to catch sight of the Divination professor for whom she had long held a particularly distain for, and the sight was not pretty.

Prof. Trelawney stood in with her wand in one hand and an empty sherry bottle in the other, and looked absolutely crazed. Her hair was sticking up, her glasses where skewed, enlarging one eye more than the other; and her various scarves and shawls were falling haphazardly from her shoulders. Two large trunks, looking like they'd been thrown down the entry hall stairs, lay beside her. And she was staring in absolute horror at a grinning person at the foot of the stairs.

"Umbridge…" Hermione hissed through clenched teeth. She had never liked Prof. Trelawney, but she never would have wished for the woman to be at the mercy of this toad. "No!" Trelawney was shrieking, "NO! This cannot happen! I refuse to accept this!"

Umbridge smiled wider, "You didn't realize this was coming?" ash asked in that high girlish voice that made Hermione want to gag.

"Incapable as you are of predicting even tomorrows weather, you must have realized that your pitiful performance during my inspections, and the lack of any improvement, would make this inevitable?" "You c-can't!" howled Trelawney, tears streaming down her face. "You c-can't! I've been here sixteen years! H-Hogwarts is my h-home!"

"Was your home," smirked Umbridge, "until an hour ago, when the Minister countersigned the order for your dismissal. Now kindly remove yourself, you are embarrassing us." At this, Trelawney collapsed onto her trunks, shaking with grief.

Hermione saw that across from her Lavender and Parvati were holding each other and sobbing. She couldn't watch anymore. She turned and ran in the opposite direction, not bothering to notice where she was going; she just wanted to get away from this horrible scene of Umbridge's power.

Finally, she reached the bottom of a staircase located next to the statue of some wizard trying in vain to remove an angry badger from its hold on his leg, and collapsed. Her breath was coming up in short gasps, and there was a painful stitch in her side. She hadn't eaten all day, and she felt sick, like she was going throw up.

"Are you going to be sick?" Hermione's head shot up at the voice, and she looked around widely. No one was there but the statue, but it couldn't have…could it? Well, after all, Hermione thought, there's talking pictures, why not a talking statue? " Roland the Rejected?" she asked uncertainly, looking up at the statue.

"What- NO! Do I look old enough to be turned down by Helga Hufflepuff?" Hermione blinked, and stared into the darkness behind the statue. She could just make out a form in the shadows, lounging just out of sight.

"Who-who are you?" "That's not important right now." The voice answered back, "But if you _are_ going to be sick, I'd like to know. It'll be inconvenient, but I can always come back later, just not much later if you don't want some serious trouble on your hands."

Hermione frowned, the voice was making no sense. "I'm not going to be sick…what do you want?" "I want to know if it's true that you've got some sort of subversive team working to undermine Umbridge." Hermione straightened, her guard was up now.

"Where did you get an idea like that?" "Have you ever heard the saying keep your friends close, but your enemies closer? Well in your case, you've kept an enemy just a little too close. You've got a traitor in your midst Granger, and one that wouldn't shed any tears if you and everyone else in your little group got rounded up."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief, "No, you're wrong. I'd know if anyone sni-" She broke off suddenly, realizing she had just as good as given herself away. "There are a lot of ways to blab without actually _telling_. People let things slip all the time, case in point…"

Hermione scowled, "What's your game? Who are you?"

"I told you already, my identity isn't important, in fact, it would probably be in your favor that I stayed anonymous. As to my game, well, let's just say I'm interested in the welfare of this school, as are you obviously, or you wouldn't be working against Umbridge."

Hermione's head was whirling, this was just too strange, it was like she'd fallen into some sort of spy movie. "Look, will you just get at the point? All this subterfuge is giving me a headache." The voice was silent for a moment, as if annoyed, finally, it sighed.

"Very well, I don't like Umbridge anymore then you do, and I want to do anything I can to make life harder for her. Unfortunately, I don't have as many…supporters, as you do. So this is my deal, you allow me access to your group's help if need arises, and in return, I supply you with valuable inside information on Umbridge's future plans for the school, as well as help you to weed out your traitor. Does that sound fair?"

Hermione pondered this, it certainly sounded fair enough, but one thing still puzzled her. "If you wanted to help, why didn't you just join up when we were recruiting?"

"Two reasons, one, I didn't find out about your little group until recently and two… I don't expect you to be very receptive to me."

"Why? Who are you? And don't give me all that about your identity not being important. And how exactly are you going to give us inside information? The only students Umbridge even talks to outside of class and detentions are the Slyther-"

Hermione broke off again as realization set in. "Oh no…" "If you really want to find out who I am, and what I can do for you, meet me in the Owlrey at dawn tomorrow. Don't be late Granger, time is of the essence. She's planning something, something that will affect all of us."

Then, before Hermione could even jump up to stop it, the figure leapt from the shadows and streaked down the hall, their cloak's hood pulled over their head to hide their face. Hermione shot up; attempting to follow them, but a rush of dizziness sent her onto her knees. When she was finally able to stand again, the figure was long gone.

"Well…" she whispered to herself, "I guess I'm waking up early tomorrow…"

**Well, there you go! Hope you liked that, feel free to speculate who our young informer is in your reviews, though of course, I'm not telling! **


	13. Chapter 13 : Telephones and Trust

**Well, I'm back! After forever and ever. Sorry about that. Anyway, I'm happy to be back to working on Lillie, and hope that you'll all enjoy reading it again! As always, I own nothing. So please, enjoy!**

Hermione blew on her hands to warm them, her breath coming out in smoky tendrils. The owls were cooing softly above, silhouetted in the soft yellow light of the rising sun. "He's late…." Ron grumbled, rubbing his arms to stop the shivering.

"He'll be here Ron, I know it."

Ron rolled his eyes at her answer, " Yeah, sure. He could have at least picked somewhere that wasn't freezing at six in the morning!"

He sighed in exasperation, a white puff of vapor rising up into his red hair, making it look for an instant like his head was on fire.

"You didn't have to come Ron, I told you, you could have stayed in the common room."

"Yeah, like I'm going to let you come up here alone with some Slytherin sneaking around- How do we know this isn't some ridiculous trick of Malfoy's to get us expelled or something?"

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know… It didn't sound like Malfoy…" She wandered over to her favorite window seat and plopped down. "I just think that if there's a chance on keeping one step ahead of Umbridge we ought too."

"That is a very sensible thought Granger."

Hermione shot up, and both she and Ron wheeled around towards the voice. Ron whipped out his wand and pointed it in the direction of the speaker. "Show yourself! O-or I'll-"

"You'll what? I've seen your wand work Weasley, I'd like to see you try and "slug"_ me_. "

Ron's face reddened in rage, and his grip on his wand tightened. Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down." She whispered in his ear, "I'll handle this." She turned towards the voice. "Would you mind terribly in showing yourself like you said you would?"

"Uh-uh-uh, I said I'd show myself to _you_, not your boyfriend."

Now it was Hermiones' turn to blush. Her mouth tightened and she glared out at the shadows. "Was your face horribly disfigured or something, or do you just like skulking in dark corners? "

A sigh escaped from the darkness. "_Fine_…"

Hermione's grip on Ron's arm tightened, and so did Ron's grip on his wand. A foot emerged, then a leg, and then…

"Hello Granger, Weasley." The young dark haired man in front of them smiled, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Surprise."

Ron and Hermione blinked. Hermione stared at him for a moment, and then asked "_Who_ are you?"

The boy's face fell, "What do you mean who am I? We've had potions together every day for four and a half years!"

The two Gryffindors stared back blankly. The boy pointed to his face and his Slytherin tie, "Tarrant...Higgs…My brother played against Harry in his _first_ Quidditch game?"

"_Oh_" Ron exclaimed, "Yeah, you're Terrance's brother, you sit in the back of Potions behind Parvati."

Hermione looked from Ron to Tarrant, and back to Ron. " I-I'm sorry… I still have no idea who this is..."

Tarrant gave a low whistle, "This'll be a page for your diary Weasley, someone for once knows something Hermione Granger knows not."

Hermione glared at Tarrant, and then turned to the glare to Ron as he muffled a snort of laughter.

"You said you had information about Umbridge, Tartan?"

"Tarrant."

"Whatever. Now, can you get to the point of this rendezvous?"

Tarrant smiled, and Hermione wondered at how no matter what Slytherin it was, they all had the same, sly smile.

"Of course. However, may I suggest we relocate to somewhere-"

"Warmer?" Ron interjected.

"Indeed, Weasley…" He looked around at the owls, huddling together in the early light. "Warmer."

Many miles away, in the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Continuous Aid, Lillie sat on a bed and rolled her shoulder back, testing the muscles gingerly.

"Now don't put too much strain on it, alright?" Harry said worriedly from the other bed, where he was repacking their rucksacks, and reaching out as if to stop her.

"It's fine, really. I tell you though, I'd never have expected nuns to be so good at fixing up dislocated shoulders. I suppose it goes with their charity work, huh?"

"Partly Miss Smith, partly." Sister Mary Joan said, smiling as she walked into the room bearing a new pile of clean sheets.

Three days ago, Harry and Lillie had stumbled upon the convent, seeking aid for Lillie's shoulder. They had been instantly befriended by Sister Mary Joan, who had set them up with rooms in the infirmary and also set Lillie's shoulder back in place.

Still, afraid that they might be discovered at anytime, (unlikely as it was for any of these Muggle Sisters to know anything about Harry or the Wizarding World), they'd given their names as John and Rose Smith, and posed as a brother and sister backpacking across the country.

"Well Rose, I suppose now that you're on the mend, you and John will be off soon?" Sister Mary Joan asked with a sad smile. "I have to say I'll be a bit sad to see you go, you two remind me of my own brother and sister…"

Lillie smiled, and patted the novice on the arm. "You've been very kind to us, we can't thank you enough for all you've done."

Mary Joan shook her head, turning to place the sheets on the bed.

"Nonsense, I really haven't done that much… I hope that you'll both be safe… I used to travel around and stay at the hostels you know, before I decided to join the church… and it's not always the safest thing, you can meet some vary unsavory characters on the roads."

Harry and Lillie glanced at each other sideways, "Oh, we know…"

Mary Joan glanced up, and gave them a long, searching look.

"Yes… yes I suppose you do…"

Turning away from them she began to pull the sheets onto the beds, and asked conversationally "So, where do you suppose you'll be heading next?"

Harry paused for a moment; he and Lillie had been discussing that very issue for the past few days, and had only recently reached a discussion. He wondered if he should tell the Sister, but decided that it couldn't hurt if she knew.

"We… we were thinking of trying to head over to France."

Mary Joan looked up in surprise, "_France?_"

"Yes" Lillie said, cutting in quickly, "We've some friends there that we thought we'd visit."

This of course was only partly true, Lillie of course _did _have friends in France, but that was _not_ the reason they were going.

Harry had told Lillie some of things that he'd read while in her father's 'secret lab', and when he'd mentioned the name of Arronax, her eyes had lit up.

"Arronax? That's my Charm Masters name! I didn't know that he and Dad were friends… Harry, do you think that he might be able to help us? Maybe he'll know something about…about why they want him?"

"…Maybe…" Harry had said, rather doubtfully, "But…Lil how would we even get to him? We don't have any money, the broom's _gone…_ I don't see how he can be of any help if we can't even get to him.".

"The Boat-Train!" she'd exclaimed in hushed excitement, surprising Harry with her eagerness.

"The boat-train?" He'd asked in surprise, "Lil, how are we supposed to get tickets for the train or the ferry? We don't have any more Muggle money, remember? How are we even supposed to get to—"

"No no!" Lillie cut him off, waving her hands in amusement. "Not the _Muggle_ boat-train. _The Boat-Train. _The British Wizarding Rail Line has a train that runs across the British Channel like a boat! It starts off at Dover and ends in Calais, right over the Chunnel. It's how I get to over to France for school each year!"

Harry stared at her before asking, "You mean to tell me that there's a train that runs right thru the Channel, out in the open and nobody's ever noticed it?!"

"Harry my dear," Lillie said in a slow, rather condescending voice, "It amazes me that you've lived in the Wizarding World for almost five years now and still know as much about how it actually works as a first year Charm Schooler. What _do_ they teach at Hogwarts?"

Harry glared at her, but agreed to listen to her plan.

He really wished he hadn't.

"Well," Mary Joan's voice said, cutting into Harry's recollections, "I'm sure they'll be pleased to see you."

"I hope so." Lillie replied.

Mary Joan nodded, finished the sheets, and left the pair to finish packing.

She walked down the hallways of the convent and towards the cloistered area reserved for the nuns, but at the last moment, turned aside and began heading toward the area where the public telephone was located.

Slowly, looking around to make sure none of the other sisters were about, she picked the phone up from the receiver, and dialed a number.

There was a long minute were she waited, listing to the dial tone. Then, finally…

"Hello?" Mary Joan said softly as she heard the distinctive click of the phone being answered.

"Yes, yes it's me." She continued, "…You know how you asked me to keep an eye open? Yes, yes I think it's them…Yes, and that's not all…they're heading to _France _tomorrow! Should I try to—Oh…well…alright then. Yes… if you think that's best. Goodbye…"

She replaced the phone on the hook, and with another quick look around, she headed off for the cloister.

The three students were sitting around a table in a dusty corner of the library. Madame Pince had been highly surprised to find three students waiting for her when she opened the library for the day, but despite her grumbling she had allowed them in, and they'd settled themselves in the Arithemacy section.

"Zacharias Smith is the snitch?" Hermione gasped as Tarrant told his news.

"I'm afraid so."

To Hermione's astonishment, Ron grinned at this news. "I don't see what there is to smile about Ron! This is really bad!"

Ron's grin widened, "Oh no it's not. I'm glad it's Zacharias, I never did like him, always going on like he's better than all of us. Now we can kick him out!"

Tarrant rolled his eyes. "Yes, and then he can report you outright to Umbridge."

"Not unless he wants to look like the poster child for dragon-pox vaccinations." Hermione muttered under her breath.

Tarrant looked over at her, raising an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" She began, and suddenly blushed, looking very sheepish. "I mean…that when I gave around the parchment for all of us to sign… I _jinxed_ it. So if anyone _does_ blab they're _really_ going to regret it."

"Why?" Asked Ron, eyes wide. "What'll happen to them?"

"Well," Hermione went on, blushing even deeper, "Let's just say it'll make Eloise Midgen's acne look like a couple of cute freckles."

Ron and Tarrant starred at her for a long moment, and then Tarrant burst out laughing.

He managed (rather lamely) to purse his lips together when Madame Pince's head shot around the corner, glaring at them, but his shoulders where still shaking after she left.

"That's…" He chortled quietly, trying to regain control. "That's _spectacular_!"

He looked up at Hermione with renewed respect. "You'd have made a fair Slytherin Granger! A fine conniving mind like yours wasted up in Gryffindor, what a shame…"

He shook his head, as though fondly imagining the possibilities.

Ron glared at him, but Hermione simply decided to roll with what she supposed was meant to be a compliment.

"Well then Mr. Higgs, you've been very helpful in alerting us to this…situation. What exactly do you want in return?"

"Exactly what I said, I want access to your little organization."

"And how do we know you won't snitch on us yourself?" Ron asked, narrowing his eyes at Tarrant.

Tarrant shrugged, "I haven't so far."

"True," Hermione granted, "But that doesn't mean you won't do it later."

"I don't suppose giving you my word as a Slytherin would at all allay your fears." He asked with a sly, knowing grin.

"Uh, _no_."

Tarrant sat back in his seat with a sigh, spreading his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Then it appears we have reached an impasse. I won't supply you with information if you won't supply me with access."

Hermione thought for a moment. Tarrant was a Slytherin, a known enemy who'd never failed to live up to their bad reputation…but he'd also put himself at a considerable disadvantage from Umbridge and his fellow housemates by coming forward to warn them about Zacharias… she thought back to what the Sorting Hat had said at the beginning of the year, about the need for inner house unity and cooperation… and at that moment, she made perhaps one of the biggest, life changing decisions ever made in the Hogwarts Library.

She reached out her hand to Tarrant and, to the shock of both he and Ron, declared:

"Alright… Tarrant, I'll trust you."

There was a long silence, and then Tarrant slowly reached out and, ignoring Ron's squawk of protest, took her hand and shook it.

"Thank you…Hermione…I'll do my best to live up to that trust."

"I sincerely hope so," Hermione thought as she released his hand. "Or I've just made a giant mistake."

**Well, there you are, the first new chapter in forever! I hope you enjoyed it, and please feel free to leave a review. Also, I'd like to just mention that I'm not Catholic, so, though I have high respect for nuns, I really know little about them apart from what I can learn from Wikipedia…and the Sound of Music. So if I've got anything wrong I hope that no one will take offense. Please tell me anything that might help me to make my writing more accurate. **** (and if anybody wants to guess where I got Harry and Lillie's fake names from…)**


	14. Chapter 14 : Who Where and What

**Wow! This may be the fastest update I've ever done! I own nothiiiiiiing! Please review if you like or have questions!**

Three Days Ago…

Remus Lupin, walking behind the group as they journeyed back into more friendly parts of the city, considered the information Sirius had just relied to them about the last time he'd seen Harry, soaring off into the air on a broomstick with a young girl clinging on behind him.

As much as he wanted to find Harry, he'd hoped that Harry would have learned to be a little more cautious about performing magic out in the open. What really intrigued him though was the girl that he'd apparently picked up along the way.

Who was she? Why was Harry running around with her when he'd seemed so adamant about avoiding everyone else? Remus had a feeling about this, he didn't like the thought of Harry being alone with a stranger with things the way they were, no matter how young the stranger was. And most disquieting of all was Sirius's description of the girl, something he'd only shared with Remus while Ford and Amy (who was now trying to pointedly ignore Sirius) discussed the group's next move.

"I'm telling you Remus, she looked _just_ like her!" Sirius had insisted quietly, gripping the man's arm.

"Sirius…are you sure? I mean they were far above you at the time. And moving fast…I'm sure it was just the resemblance that Harry has and her hair that gave you the idea."

"I know what I saw Remus!" Sirius had hissed. "I heard her _laugh!_ It was _exactly _the same! I'd know that laugh anywhere!"

Remus shook his head, trying to make sense of it all. "Sirius, think about what you're saying! _How_ could it be her?"

Sirius had shrugged, but his tone was indignant, "I don't know…_polyjuice potion_?!"

Remus had raised an eyebrow, clearly thinking this explanation lacked logic. "Sirius, where would they get the necessary ingredients?"

Sirius opened his mouth to answer, and then shut it again. "I uh… I didn't think about that…"

"That seems to be your way with a lot of things…" Remus had muttered, rolling his eyes.

But now as they walked along, Sirius in dog shape once more, Remus thought over what Sirius had said. Polyjuice potion was defiantly out, but there were other ways to disguise oneself as another, _if_ Sirius was even right about what he saw. Which was _absolutely_ out of the question…wasn't it? Of course it was! Why would anyone want to disguise themselves as-

Remus was broken out of his thoughts by Ford's voice calling out to him. "Ok! I think I know where they might be!"

The group crowded around the map that Ford had been searching while they walked. Sirius's shaggy head popped up over side of the map to get a look, his tongue panting, which caused Ford to lift it higher to avoid it getting drooled on. Sirius growled at this, but Ford ignored him.

"According to Sirius and Chris's information, I've traced the angle of their departure to right about…here!"

He pointed to a spot on the map near Ashford. "They apparently headed off in an Southeasterly direction, so they may be at Brabourne Lees or Smeeth."

"_If_ they kept heading that way at all." Amy pointed out.

"Well I've been following the MLES intelligence and there was a report about a broom crashing in Folk's Wood. There were no sign of the passengers, so if it was used by Harry and this girl they're probably still aways back."

"How do you know they didn't just abandon the broom in Folk's Wood?" Remus asked.

"Because the broom was seen crashing there by a few Muggle tourists. They didn't report seeing any riders before their memories were Obliviated, it doesn't seem to be a very logical decision for a fugitive, especially a magical one, to simply abandon such a useful form of transport, especially one that can't be automatically linked to them, like using magic can. This suggests to me that somehow the broom got away from them and continued its flight path on its own. Which, if we trace the flight path back—"

"Leads us to back to here!" Amy cut in, pointing to a spot on the map a little above where Brabourne Lees was located. "Gracemews."

The whole group leaned in closer to try and see the minuscule name that was printed on the map. It was so small that they could barely make it out.

"What makes you think they're there?" Ford asked, rather annoyed at his cousin interrupting him.

"It's the first town we hit if we follow a straight line; plus it's smaller and more out of the way than Brabourne Lees or Smeeth," she said with a shrug, "If I were on the run and didn't want to be found, that's where I'd hide. Some place so small and unheard of that nobody would think to look there."

"Yes…" Ford conceded, still a bit annoyed, "I suppose so…"

"Well let's get going then!" Remus said, preparing himself to apparate.

"There's… a bit of a problem." Ford cut in, not quite sure how to say what he had to.

"What?" Amy asked, confused by Ford's reluctant tone.

"We um, we can't apparate to Gracemews, it's… well there's an Anti-Apparation Charm on it." Ford muttered as quietly as he could.

"What?!" Remus and Amy exclaimed together as Sirius's ears cocked in surprise.

"Ford!" Amy cried, staring at him incredulously, "The town is like…this big!" She held her thumb and forefinger less than half of an inch apart. "It's not even a Wizarding village! Why on earth the Ministry would put a charm on it?!"

"The Ministry didn't." Ford said, in a tone that clearly stated he no longer wished to discuss the matter.

This answer was enough to pause the conversation for a moment, but the group was too curious to stop now.

"But why would anyone put the Charm on it in the first place?" Remus asked. "It's not like there's anything important there! Well, apart from maybe Harry if Amy's correct." He added in a half joking tone, which quickly died when he noticed Ford's face, which had taken on a very serious and pensive look, as though he were looking beyond the group at something they could not see.

"Depends on what you think is important I suppose…" He finally said. Then he shook his head, as if to shake off the somber feeling that had settled on him with it.

"At any rate," He continued, "We can't get there magically. There's more than just the Anti-Apparation Charm on that place. In fact, anyone trying to get into it magically would find themselves in a very uncomfortable spot…"

The group was now staring at Ford with a mixture of amazement and trepidation. What on earth could be at Gracemews, a town so small and inconsequential that most Muggles didn't know it existed, that could warrant such protection?

"Actually," Ford continued, "If Harry is there, there's probably no safer place for him to be. Very few wizards know about the town's protections, and you can bet that anyone wishing him harm would have no scruples about using magic to try and enter such an out of the way place. It'll take us about three days to get there by Muggle means. He'll be fine till then, if he stays put, and if, in fact, he's there at all."

"Speaking of which…" but here, Ford left off. And the group's continuing surprise, he turned away from them, and entered into a Muggle telephone box that was standing nearby. He shut the door so that the trio left outside couldn't hear him, but they could see him take a slip of paper out of his wallet, read it, punch in a number and after a moment of waiting begin talking to someone. The conversation only lasted a few minutes, and then Ford simply hung up the phone and stepped out.

"There," He said in a very satisfied tone. "That'll get passed on to Gracemews. If he is there, someone will let us know. Well, best get be getting a move on then!"

And without another word of explanation as to what would be passed on to Gracemews, or how, or who would be passing it and letting them know, and how that would happen, Ford sauntered off to flag down a Muggle taxi that would allow dogs; whistling "Rule Britannia" and leaving his stunned compatriots to follow behind…

Miles away, and many calls later, a young novice in a nunnery had just finished a very unsettling conversation on the phone. But before she had time to think it over, there came a knock on the nunnery door. She opened it to see a young dark haired teen with glasses, supporting a red haired girl of about the same age, who was clutching an obviously dislocated shoulder…


	15. Chapter 15 : Caught and Climbing

**New Chapter! Hope you guys are enjoying it! I own nothing.**

Hermione tried to ignore Ron's unceasing complaints about Tarrant while she planned her next D.A. lesson, whilst simultaneously writing her Potions essay.

"I can't believe you said you'd trust him! That you'll let him into the D.A!" He protested (quietly of course, they were in the common room and by no means alone).

"He's useful." Hermione said, not bothering to look up from copying down her notes about the various properties of mugwort. "He can help us. And besides, you believed him about Zacharias."

"Yeah, well, _anyone_ can see that guy's a creep. But that still doesn't change the fact that Tarrant's a _Slytherin!" _Ron hissed, practically spitting the word from his mouth as though it left a bad taste there. "There's nothing in them but pride and deceit! If he's helping us it's only because he's got some sort of…_hidden motive_!"

"Well of course he does!" Hermione said, raising her head this time to look at Ron, who seemed surprised by her admition. "He's a Slytherin, like you said. They've always got several motives behind whatever they do."

"Then how can you possibly trust him?!" Ron exclaimed, dumbfounded by Hermione's uncharacteristic lack of sense.

Hermione sighed and put down her quill, trying to figure out how to explain herself. "It's…it's like this Ron. It's not exactly that I _do_ trust him, I mean, he's not done anything especially to_ prove_ himself completely trustworthy…It's that, I'm _choosing_ to trust him. I'm giving him the _chance_ to prove himself."

She looked hopefully at Ron, and could see that he still didn't quite understand what she was trying to say. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, and tried again.

" I want…I _need_ to believe that he'll come thru for us. That he'll do what he says he'll do and not give us away, because if I don't… I need to be able to believe that there's the possibility of some good coming out of all this mess."

Ron raised an eyebrow, "And what does _he_ have to do with that good?"

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know...maybe some hope that Slytherins and Gryffindors, Muggleborns and Purebloods can…get along somehow. That maybe this war won't end up tearing us even further apart then we already are…I don't know Ron…maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see."

"Speaking of Seeing." Ginny interrupted as she came up to the table. "Umbridge isn't at all happy about Dumbledore's choice for a new Divination teacher. I heard her in the hallway today grumbling about 'Half-Breeds' and 'improper decoration of classrooms'. Firenze has certainly done a number on her."

She grinned widely as she sat down next to her brother. "So, what are you two so chatty about?"

Ron and Hermione eyed each other, as though trying to gauge what the other might say, before finally answering "Nothing" simultaneously.

Ginny's eyebrow raised skeptically, but she simply shrugged, and began taking out her own homework.

"By the way Gin," Ron said after a moment, "I've been meaning to ask you. What's this I hear about you and Neville?"

Ginny blushed as red as her hair. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Uhuh, _suuuure_." Ron drawled sarcastically. "So you don't know anything about Longbottom's current state of abject bliss?"

"If Mr. Longbottom _is_ in a state of abject bliss," Ginny said, keeping her voice even, "It is entirely his own business to be in it, not yours Ronald Weasley; and regardless of what may have sent him into it in said state…well….well that's no business of yours either!" She finished hurriedly, before scooping up her papers and scampering up the steps to the girls' dormitory. To Ginny's credit, she managed to maintain a dignified manner, despite her glowing face.

Ron watched her go, then turned back to Hermione, grinning. "I'm happy for her. She could do a lot worse. Of course I'll have to go set Neville straight on a few points."

"I believe your brothers are in the process of doing that as we speak" Hermione replied, looking over to where Fred and George had cornered Neville by the fireplace. "And as prefects, I think that we'd best put a stop to it."

"Aw Hermione, there's no law against threatening a guy with sweets!"

"There is if said sweets can cause internal damage! Come on, let's go!"

And, the matter of Tarrant forgotten for the moment, the two rushed off to save Neville from the wrath of a Nosebleed Nougat.

In the D.A. meetings following her conversation with Tarrant, Hermione had kept an extra close eye on Zacharias Smith, hoping to find out what methods he was using to distill information about them without activating her jinx, but so far she had found nothing.

"Let's just denounce him right now and use him as target practice." Ron grumbled to her as she attempted to explain the concept of a Patronus to her 'class'.

"Not until I'm sure he doesn't have any accomplices." She whispered back to him. She then turned back to the students. "Now I know none of us have actually created a Patronus yet, but I know that Harry meant for us to cover them. Now, while the actual creation of a Patronus can be difficult, the theory is actually quite simple. First, you have to focus on a happy memory, something that really means a lot to you. Take a moment to concentrate on it, let if fill you up. Then, speak the charm '_Expecto Patronum'_, focusing completely on the memory. Don't expect to get it right the first time, like I said, it can be pretty difficult. Let's all give it a try now, alright?"

There was a few moments of stillness while everyone tried to concentrate on a happy memory. A few of the younger members fought the urge to giggle at the prolonged silence, and those who gave into the urge were quickly and sharply 'shushed' by their elders.

It took a few tries, (as well as some near explosions from people who didn't bother to correctly enunciate or aim their wands) but after a while almost everyone in the room had managed to produce some form of Patronus.

"They're so pretty!" Cho trilled as her swan Patronus flew about the room.

"They're not supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to be protective." Hermione said with a hint of exasperation. "Conjuring a Patronus in a brightly light room with no threat of attack is a lot different than conjuring one when your _life _depends on it. Harry practiced his on a Boggart, I wonder if I could find and trap one so we could use it next time…"

"No!" Lavender cried out in alarm. "That would be scary!"

"Danger usually is" Hermione muttered under her breath.

"Besides," Lavender continued, ignoring Hermione "I still-can't- do it!" She cried in exasperation as her wand continued to shoot out small silver puffs.

"Just keep working at it." Hermione said as patiently as she could, watching her own otter-shaped Patronus as scampered around the room, running between the legs of her fellow students and causing Seamus, (whom Dean had brought for the first time that very day) to lose his control of what had looked to be something big and hairy .

"You too Neville, keep it up!"

"I'm trying Hermione! I really am!" Neville said, screwing up his face in concentration, willing his wand to emit anything other than the feeble wisps of smoke that were trickling from its tip.

"You just have to think of something happy Neville." Ginny said with a smile as she walked up to him, her own horse Patronus cantering along behind her. "And try to keep your wand steady."

She reached out, touching Neville's arm to steady it, and the tip of his wand **exploded** with silver light, startling everyone in the room, (especially Neville).

The silver mass hung in the air, twisting and writhing and casting shadows on the ground below, before forming into a small shaped that dropped lightly to its feet on the ground below.

Everyone forgot about their own Patronuses and gathered around to stare at what had been released from Neville's wand.

"It's a….kitten." Dean said in a dubious tone.

The class all turned to look at Neville, who immediately went red.

"Well… it's better than a toad." Ron said in what he obviously thought was a consoling tone.

Hermione punched his arm.

"Ow! Well it is!" He exclaimed as he rubbed the aching spot.

"Oh shut up all of you!" Ginny said, bending down to get a better look at the creature. "It's not a _kitten_, it's a _cub_. A _lion_ cub." She looked up at Neville, and grinned broadly. "You're a lion Neville!"

Neville gave her a weak grin back, still too shocked to speak.

"A baby lion." Ron muttered under his breath, jumping away before Hermione could hit him again.

Just then, the door to the Room of Requirement burst open. The group jumped in surprise, and spun around to see the cause of the noise.

To Hermione's shock and surprise, _Tarrant _stood in the doorway, a wild look in his eyes, and a shaking, self-slapping Dobby in the other.

"Tarrant?!" Hermione exclaimed, wondering what in the world was going on. The rest of the D.A. was wondering the same thing. "Who's _that_?!" "How'd a _Slytherin _get in here?!" "Hermione you _know _him?!"

Various questions where shouted out, creating an almost undecipherable clamor, before being silenced as Tarrant gave a shrill whistle using his free hand.

"Shut it all of you!" The boy cried, rather unnecessarily, as the room had already quieted. "Umbridge is on her way here _right now_!"

There was silence for a moment, and then the cacophony returned with double force. "What?!" "No!"  
>"How did she find us?!" "What'll we do?!"<p>

"QUIET!" Tarrant roared again, and amazingly, the room complied.

"Tarrant," Hermione said, walking up to him, "Are-are you sure?"

"Positive. She was practically _bragging_ about it to Malfoy and his lot. Also…" He said, raising up Dobby, who was now trying to bash his head into a nearby pillar, but was finding it difficult due to his eight hats and Tarrant's grip.

"I found this one trying to come and warn you. But it seems the house-elves have been ordered not to tell and it was taking him a while due to…well you see how he is." He gestured to Dobby, who had given up on the pillar and now seemed to be trying to eat his own hats. "But he did try."

"Yes!" Dobby cried with a muffled squeak. "Dobby tried to warn Miss Hermione Granger that…that… _she…" _But at that Dobby's resolve gave out, and he began stuffing another hat into his mouth.

"Dobby stop!" Hermione cried in alarm, and, to her relief, the house-elf seemed to interpret this as an order, and did as she said.

"Tarrant," Hermione said quickly, turning back to the boy, "How much time have we got?"

"She'll probably be here in less than five minutes!"

The screaming resumed.

Hermione paled. There was no way that they could all get out and to safety in time. They were all going to be caught, Umbridge would see to it that she and quite likely the rest of them would get expelled, and then there would be no one to continue the figh-

"Granger!" Tarrant said, grapping her arm and waking her from her momentary nightmare. "This room, it can do whatever you need it too, right?!"

"Y-yes." Hermione said, not sure why he was asking this now. "So what?!"

"So! Ask it to make a way for you to escape!"

Hermione stared, and then her eyes widened. Of course! _We need to escape!_ She thought desperately, willing her thoughts into the Room. _We need to get out and make it look like we were never here!_

As soon as she had finished thinking it, a grating noise at the back of the room caught her attention. Three tunnels had opened up in the back, with a lion, badger, and raven engraved separately over them.

Hermione beamed at Tarrant, who nodded in an impressed way. Then she turned back to the panicking students and then began to issue orders.

"Everyone! Head for the tunnel with your House's symbol! Make sure you have your wands! Hurry, but no crowding! We don't want anyone to get stuck or left behind!"

"You heard the woman!" Tarrant yelled over the din. "Let's go go go!"

Instantly the members of the D.A. began rushing for the tunnels. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws gripped at the ladders inside them that seemed to lead up for longer than they could see. Hufflepuffs found themselves sliding down a passage that looped and twisted out of sight. Within seconds the Room was almost empty.

"Hermione!" Ron called out from the entrance to the Gryffindor tunnel. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Just a moment!" She called, turning back once more to Tarrant. "What about you? There isnt' a Slytherin tunnel…"

To her surprise, he smiled, and shrugged. "I'll be alright. They won't be looking for Slytherins. You go, I'll keep them busy so you all have enough time."

Hermione stared at him, grateful, but more than a little confused. "But…why?"

Tarrant raised an eyebrow, as if surprised by her question. "We made a deal remember? You help me, I help you. It's just good business." Then his straight face broke, and he grinned. "Besides, that's what friends do, isn't it?"

To surprised by this statement, Hermione simply nodded.

"Now go," Tarrant said, waving her towards the tunnel, "Before she gets here."

He turned towards the door, and then turned back, thrusting a still shaking Dobby into Hermione's arms. "Here, you better take the elf with you."

He shot her a quick salute, and took off down the hallway.

Hermione simply stood there for a moment, watching him go, before Ron's voice called out to her again, breaking her from her reverie. "I'm coming!"

She dashed into the tunnel, (noticing as she did that it was the only one remaining ; apparently the others had closed the moment the last student from a house entered it) and found herself struggling to climb one handed up the ladder.

It was a hard climb, especially with Dobby clinging onto her, and then Ron's back. The tunnel was snug, almost claustrophobic at times, and apart from cracks in the wall where (somehow) light appeared, it was completely dark. More than once Hermione heard someone in the above her, (probably Lavender or Parvati) cry out when their feet slipped on a rung.

But nobody ended up falling, and after what seemed like ages (though from her watch Hermione could see that it must have only been fifteen minutes at the most) the Gryffindor reached the end of the ladder.

"Do you see anything?" Hermione called up to the students at the top.

"Yeah!" Fred's (or was it George's) voice called back down to her from the darkness. "Feels like there's some sort of latch here. I think I can-"

There was a click, and then suddenly the tunnel seemed to shift and lurch, and the entire group found themselves spilling out onto the carpet...of the Gryffindor Common Room!

"Well," came Fred's muffled voice from beneath the pile of students that had fallen on top of him. "That was interesting. Let's not ever do it again."

From what she'd gathered from members of the D.A. in separate houses the next day, they'd all had similar experiences.

"We slid all the way into our common room!" Exclaimed Ernie Macmillan under his breath when Hermione asked him about it. "It was like being in one of those long covered slides on a playground! Only it went on forever and nobody could see anything!"

"We had to climb a ladder too. But our tunnel didn't dump us, it just opened up behind one of our bookshelves." Luna said casually, "It was awfully good fun climbing up. A couple of the girls got some really interesting spiders caught in their hair."

Dobby had returned to the kitchens after Hermione had made him promise not to try and hurt himself anymore for going against Umbridge's orders. She also told him that she'd knit him two new hats to replace the ones he'd eaten.

All in all, things had worked out better than anyone could have foreseen. Faced with a lack of any physical evidence that meetings had been taking place in the Room of Requirement, and unable to prove that any of the students had been out of their dorms at that time; Umbridge had been unable to punish any of the assumed offenders.

"She's seething!" Ginny had giggled during lunch. "She knows that we're up to something but she can't prove it or do anything about it and you can _see_ the steam pouring out of her ears because of it!"

"Yeah well, let's not be too giddy about it." Hermione cautioned as she reached over for a plate of toast. "She may not be able to _prove_ anything, but that doesn't mean that she won't try and do something. And knowing her it'll be both nasty and a nuisance to everyone in the school."

"Yeah…" Ron agreed, " But still, it was pretty awesome how we all gave her the slip!"

"You mean it was pretty awesome how Tarrant managed to warn us, help us think of an escape plan and then keep Umbridge and her goons busy long enough for us all to set up an alibi." Hermione remined him.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Whatever, if you want to be all _technical_ about it."

"By the way Hermione…." Ginny said slowly, as though she was embarrassed by what she was about to say. "Um… the members of the D.A. were…hoping to talk to you about that… some of them don't feel it was the best of…_judgment_…to let a _Slytherin _in on the proceedings of our…little group…"

Hermione stared at Ginny, and then looked around at the rest of the group, who all quickly tried to avoid her gaze.

"Oh come on people!" She cried, "Tarrant put a lot on the line to help us! If he'd been caught think about what would have happened to him?!"

"There'd be one less Slytherin to worry about?" George suggested with a grin.

Hermione glared at him and turned back to Ron. "And what are your feelings on this?"

Ron eyes began to glance everywhere except the area occupied by Hermione.

"_Ron_?"

"W-well…" He began, "I'll…admit that he…kinda helped us get away…but he's still—"

"A _Slytherin_?" Hermione cut in sharply.

"…Yes." The group replied in unison.

Hermione raised her hands in irritation, " You guys just because someone's in Slytherin does that automatically make them a bad person?!"

"Hermione, name _one_ person in Slytherin that has turned out good?" Fred asked with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"Well there's…" Hermione began, then quickly trailed off.

"See?" Fred replied with a smug grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Look, we've got a little bit bigger problem just now then worrying about Tarrant."

"And what's that?" asked Ginny.

Hermione turned from the girl to look over her shoulder towards the Hufflepuff table, where Zacharias Smith sat.

"Worrying about just how Umbridge almost found us…and how to stop her from doing it again…"

**Well that's all for now. I'll probably try to upload a new chapter for my Uncle Loki story soon, then I'll get back to this one! Please review if you like!**


	16. Chapter 16 : Trains and Trouble

**Hi! Guess what? I'm not dead, I still don't own anything, and I'm actually going to attempt to finish this story! Thank you all for your incredible patience!**

Tarrant Higgs had been in uncomfortable situations before, but he had to admit being alone in a dusty old corridor with Ron Weasely glaring daggers at him had to be in the top ten.

"You wanted to talk to me Weasley?"

"Yes." Ron confessed, "I want to know what you're playing at."

Tarrant raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "Playing at Weasley? I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"Oh come off it!" Scoffed Ron. "You're a Slytherin! You and all the rest of your house don't give that for the rest of us, never have and never will! There's not one of you I'd trust as far as I'd like to throw you! "

"Miss Granger seems to think I'm trustworthy." Tarrant said coolly, as if bored by the conversation.

Ron looked uncomfortable at the mention of Hermione, but forged ahead anyway. "She's been wrong about things before…And I'm not gonna stand idly by while you play her with your little 'Concerned Student' act!"

"I helped you escape. I warned you about Zacharias Smith snitching-"

"And that's the other thing!" Ron cut in sharply. "What proof is there that Smith is the snitch? Or that there's even a snitch at all?! For all we know, you could be the one who squealed on us to Umbridge!"

"If that was true then why would I help you escape?" Tarrant asked tartly. "If I'd wanted you caught I could have just let her waltz up and catch you unawares."

Ron had to admit this was true, but he didn't let this waver his attack. "You could just be waiting until you get something really good on us. Something that'll really get us in trouble."

"Like you're not going to really get in trouble already." Tarrant muttered.

Ron, ignoring this, went on. "Like I said before, all we have is your word! Where's the_ proof_?! How did you even find out Zacharias was a snitch, if he is?"

"I have my sources."

"Right." Ron scoffed. "Why do you even pretend to care about what happens to us all anyway? Everyone knows that Slytherins only care about themselves! Why should you care what happens to Hogwarts?!"

"Because the last I checked, Slytherin was still a part of Hogwarts. And until such time as it ceases to be, I intend to make sure that I do what's best for Slytherin and for Hogwarts. And as much as we disagree Weasley, we both know the Umbridge is probably the worst thing to happen to this school since that whole Chamber of Secrets incident. Do you deny it?"

He glared down at Ron, daring him to disagree. When Ron remained silent, Tarrant dared to give a small smirk. "I thought so."

Though he didn't show it, Tarrant was actually getting very annoyed by Ron's instance at his guilt. He'd never really paid the Gryffindor too much attention before. As far as he could tell, Weasley's function in the "Golden Trio" seemed to be mostly 'comic relief'. But clown or not, he was questioning Tarrant's honor. Slytherins may not have had much of it as far as the world was concerned, but what they did have they guarded more jealously then any dragon.

"I don't care what you think of me and my house Weasley." Hissed Tarrant, " But I have to say I'm surprised at your lack of faith in Miss Granger's judgment. Or…"

And here, where he would usually have retained an amount of calm, Tarrant let the darkest impulses of his house sneak through, purposely poisoning the words he aimed at Ron's heart.

"Maybe, it isn't her judgment you lack faith in, but her taste in confidants? But really, who can blame her for wanting to converse with an intellectual _equal_ for a change? It must be so trying for her now that Potter's gone to have to make do with _you_."

Ron's face went livid.

The next thing Tarrant knew, Ron's hands were around his throat, and his back was being slammed up and into the wall of the corridor with more force then he would have guessed the Gryffindor possessed.

"Oh yes, by all means, wring away!" Tarrant wheezed mockingly. "That'll impress Hermione to no end."

"YOU DON'T GET TO CALL HER HERMIONE!"

Tarrant felt Ron's grip tighten, but he was too far gone to care.

"I'll call her anything I like _Weasley_! And you've got no right to tell me different."

"I've got every right!" Snarled Ron. "And if I hear you call her Hermione again I'll-

"You'll what?" Tarrant interrupted smugly, "Make me eat slugs? Or maybe get those buffoonish brothers of yours to stuff _me_ into a vanishing cabinet? Or, maybe you'll all watch from behind you're little sister's skirt while she hexes me? Because let's be honest Weasley, she's about the only one of your lot with any chance of it!"

And before Ron could figure out if he should be embarrassed of Ginny or proud, Tarrant had bitten into Ron's hands, causing the red-head to release his hold and drop Tarrant back onto the floor. Wasting no time, Tarrant swung his fist back and slammed it against Ron's face, sending Ron reeling back onto the other wall.

Ron was only stunned for a few moments though, and within the next second he and Tarrant were rolling about on the floor, trading blow for blow, and more often than not hitting the floor rather than the others face.

They probably would have continued like this for sometime if a sharp cry of "STOP IT!" hadn't distracted them from pounding each other.

The two looked up to see, (to their equal embarrassment), a very angry looking Hermione glaring down at them.

"_What _is going on here?!" She demanded, in a tone that reminded Ron too much of his mother.

"Nothing." Ron grumbled, rolling himself off of Tarrant and onto his feet.

"Yes." Tarrant agreed, standing up himself and dusting off his robes. "Just a little discussion between schoolmates."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You two don't really think I _buy_ that do you?"

"You seem to have no problem buying everything _else _things he says." Ron muttered sharply.

Tarrant glared, and then turned to Hermione, "No. I trust your _intelligence_ more than that." Then he turned back to Ron.

"You want proof Weasley?" He hissed into the boys' ear. "I'll _give_ you proof." He then shoved Ron aside and began heading down the corridor, not bothering to stop as he called back, "I'll talk to you later, _Hermione_!"

LL LL LL

Despite all the time they'd spent together, Harry was still amazed at Lillie's astounding ability to talk her way out of almost anything. That, and the surprising amount of pure dumb_ luck_ that seemed to be watching over them.

They'd made it to Dover will surprisingly little hassle, and Lillie had led them to the Boat-Train station, which was accessed via walking through the door of a decrepit looking (and seemingly condemned) fish and chips shop.

There weren't many people there, but after they'd paid for their tickets using the little Wizarding money Lillie had saved, she'd managed to convince the conductor,(who'd seemed very suspicious of the two underage wizards traveling alone) that she and her 'brother' were in fact traveling with the batch of Belgian wizards boarding the train on their way home from a holiday.

They'd almost been caught when he'd asked to see their passports. Harry of course didn't have one at all, and would have shown her real name and citizenship, but at that moment one of the Belgian wizard's children accidently made one of the rubbish bins explode.

In the ensuing chaos they were able to leap aboard the train without further hassle, and had taken up residence in one of the smaller compartments.

The Boat-Train was now speedily chugging its way across the Channel, and Harry was gazing out of the window in utter fascination.

Lillie was right. Though he'd lived almost five years in this magical world, he still continued to be amazed at the seemingly endless wonders it could produce.

"I love magic." He whispered as he watched the white cliffs shrink into the distance.

"It has its moments." Lillie agreed with a smile. " Now then, there is the little matter of how to get you into Beaubaxtons, I mean, it's not as if we can just march up to the front door."

"That might be a little conspicuous, especially since you've missed so much of the term." Harry agreed.

"Oh it's not just that. See, like Hogwarts, Beaubaxtons is Unplottable."

"But that's just to keep Muggles out right?" Harry asked.

Lillie shook her head. "Not just Muggles. Wizards are very territorial, always have been. They don't like having other wizards snooping about, learning their secrets."

"But it's just a school!" Harry declared.

"And what do people teach in schools Harry? Wizarding schools are_ rife_ with secrets! That's why they're so heavily guarded! And not just by magic! I mean, _think_ about it, what other reason would _your _school have for keeping a _giant-squid_ in a body of water so frequented by students?!"

"I-um…I never really thought about that before…" Harry admitted. "I guess I always just figured it was just sorta part of the general…_uniqueness_ of the place?"

Lillie raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to say 'general_ lunacy'_, didn't you?"

Harry couldn't really deny that.

"So…what, am I just supposed to wait in the woods or something well you go talk to this Arronax guy?"

Lillie's brow furrowed in thought. "No, that wouldn't be safe…I'll think of something, just give me a minute…"

Complying to this request, Harry turned his attention back to the window. The ocean sped by in a rush of green and blue, sunlight bouncing along the waves and the rails. The sounds of the sea and the train had took on a sort of hypnotic rhythm, and before he even realized it, Harry's eyes began to close…

He fell right into the corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries. He sped toward the plain black door_…Let it open…let it open…_

It did.

He stepped into the circular room lined with doors…he crossed it, placed his hand on an identical door, it swung inwards…

A long, rectangular room stood in front of him, full of an odd, mechanical clicking. Flecks of light danced along the walls, but he continued without pausing to look…he had to go on…

There was a door at the far end, he touched the handle, and it slowly opened…

The room he entered now was dimly lit, and high and wide as a church. There was nothing but rows and rows of towering shelves, each laden with small, dusty, spun-glass orbs…

Harry's heart was beating intensely with excitement…He seemed to know instinctively where to go…

He ran forward, but his footsteps fell silently in the enormous, deserted room, in which was something he wanted very, very much…

Something he wanted…or someone else wanted…

His scar hurt terribly…

"Got It!"

Harry awakened with a jolt at Lillie's exclamation. He blinked furiously, and rubbed at his scar, trying to flush away the drowsiness and the pain.

"It's so simple! Really, most ways to get around magic _are_ once you just stop trying to make them difficult! I'll _blind-fold_ you!"

Harry stared at Lillie as she beamed with pleasure at her brilliant notion.

Then he sent up a silent prayer that that pure dumb luck of theirs would hold out.

LL LL LL

"I suppose you think you're quite clever, don't you?" Tarrant asked, glaring at Zacharias Smith from across the table.

Zacharias smirked at the question. "Well, yes."

"But you failed to have them caught."

Zacharias shrugged this off. "They can't be lucky every time. There'll be other chances."

"Are you sure about that?" Tarrant asked. "Umbridge isn't very happy over been made to look the fool. Do you really think that she's likely to trust you again? I think it's more likely she'll be looking to get even."

Zacharias didn't seem quite so smug now, and he began fidgeting in his chair. "She doesn't actually know it's me. She can't prove it's me."

"I doubt that. She's crafty that one. She's probably working on tracking you down right now."

Zacharias was visibly shaking now. "S-she can't! I used a charm on my notes to change my handwriting!"

"Ah. So that was how you were doing it." Tarrant said cooly, starting to put the final pieces of the puzzle together. "I wondered. So you wrote these notes and then passed them onto Parkinson who passed them onto Draco, who got them to Umbridge."

"R-right!" Zacharias nodded vigorously. "So see, she'll never know it was me!"

"As long as Parkinson keeps quite." Tarrant reminded him.

"Right!" Zacharias declared with a grin, taking another long gulp of tea. His smug grin had returned now. "So like I said, there'll be other chances."

"Uh-uh. Just one little problem with your plan Smith."

Zacharias raised an eyebrow unbelievingly, "And what's that pray tell."

Tarrant leaned forward and grabbed the other boy's collar, practically pulling him across the table. "Parkinson _did_ tell someone._ Me. _Oh I'll admit your plan was pretty clever, for all its juvenile simplicity. Keep your identity hidden from both sides until you had enough information to make sure you'd get something good from it. But boy did you pick the wrong person to act as your go-between!"

Tarrant thrust the boy back into his chair, nearly knocking him over in the process, and continued.

"Pansy Parkinson has the loosest lips in all of Hogwarts, particularly if you flatter them. Course that's probably how you got her to turn in the notes for you. But you're not the only one who knows how to take advantage of her rollercoaster-relationship with Malfoy. I knew she was in on something to do with you lot. All it took were a few dates to Madame Puddifoot's and she told me all I needed to know. After that it was easy to put the pieces together. All I needed was to figure out how you were getting around Granger's jinx."

Here, Tarrant gave a ruthful smile. " It's almost embarrassing really. I'll have to tell Granger to be more aware of thing like this in the future. She really ought to have thought of notes and such herself, being Muggle-born and all. But then again, we all rely so much on magic here that sometimes we forget how easily we get around without it…."

He turned back to Zacharias, who's eyes were beginning to glaze over. "Just one more thing Smith, how on earth did scum like you get into Hufflepuff?"

Zacharias gave a lazy smile, and leaned back in his chair, "My dad's a descendant of old Helga herself, so the Hat didn't have much choice there did it?"

Zacharias's grin widened, and as he began slinking down into his chair, he asked, "And how 'bout you? How'd such a bleeding heart like you end up in Slytherin?"

Now it was Tarrant's turn to smirk. "Well, can you think of any other better place for someone who shanghais students into small cupboards and forces them to drink stolen Verituserum mixed with a memory fogging sleeping draft to end up?"

Zacharias smiled, shook his head, and promptly slipped to floor, snoring softly.

Tarrant looked down on the figure in disgust. "Yeah, sleep well you creep. I'll tell somebody you're in here eventually. _After_ I finish making Weasley eat his words."

And with that, he picked up the bottle of Verituserum he'd stolen during potions, ("Really", he thought, "Prof. Snape ought to some sort of hex on his store rooms. People just seem to waltz in and out of it like it's a pharmacy!") and locked the door to the cupboard behind him.

Lost in his mixed feelings of triumph, anger and repulsion, Tarrant did not notice the figure in the shadows, watching him turn the corner; emerging only after being sure Tarrant was no longer within earshot.

And a long, slow, venomous smile crossed the face of Draco Malfoy.

**DUN DUN DUN!... Hope you liked that! Please review and tell me what you think! **

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